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Vietnamese – Để xem thông tin bằng tiếng Việt, vui lòng nhấp vào đây

Swahili – Kwa habari katika Kiswahili bofya hapa

Tagalog – Para sa impormasyon sa Filipino (Tagalog), i-click dito

Dinka – Na wïc lëk cë gɔ̈t Thuɔŋjäŋ/ (South Sudanese) ka yï tuany kën

Hindi – हिंदी में जानकारी के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें

Malayalam – മലയാളത്തിലുള്ള വിവരങ്ങൾക്ക് ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക

Expansion of council's GO service

GO bin delivery schedule

Ipswich is proud to be moving to a city-wide Garden Organics (GO) collection as a part of the 3-bin core service.

The current opt-in Garden Organics (GO) service will be expanding to a city-wide core service. This will mean an additional green lid GO bin will be included to the regular kerbside collections alongside the red lid general waste and yellow lid recycling bins. Collection will be fortnightly, alternating with your yellow lid recycling bin.

This change will allow Ipswich to make improvements towards higher recycling rate by diverting valuable organics from landfill.

To stay up to date with all things Resource Recovery related you can download the Ipswich Bin App and sign up for updates and announcements via the Resource Recovery in Ipswich Shape your Ipswich page.

This city-wide GO rollout is expected to occur throughout June and July 2025 to all Ipswich suburbs.

This initiative received funding from the Queensland Government’s Recycling and Jobs Fund.

GO bin collection

The service is offered on a fortnightly basis using 240L GO bins with a green lid. Collection days are the same day as the residents’ normal general waste service, and on the alternate week to the recycling service. The GO bin must be correctly placed on the kerbside in the same manner as the general waste and recycling bins.

Items suitable for GO waste bins

Acceptable items:

  • prunings and grass clippings
  • shrubs
  • weeds
  • leaves and loose bark.

Note: materials must be placed loose in the bin and NOT in plastic bags or boxes.

Unacceptable items:

  • Plastic bags
  • General waste or recycling
  • Stones, concrete or masonry
  • Large logs, branches and stumps that that may make the bin too heavy to service.

GO resources

Click to view the GO Garden Organics flyer
(PDF, 339.0 KB)

FAQs

If you can't find the answer to your questions on this page, contact council on (07) 3810 6666.

What is GO?

GO stands for Garden Organics material. GO bins are designed for all of your garden waste. This organic waste is collected fortnightly and then turned into compost, soil improvers and mulch at a local composting facility.  These all allow nutrients to be returned to the environment in parks, gardens and farms.

When will GO services commence across the city?

Residents across Ipswich that do not have an existing garden organics (and are considered eligible) bin can expect a new bin to be delivered between 2 June 2025 and 30 July 2025. Upon delivery, customers will receive an information pack to inform them about the GO bin.

Collection of the new GO bins will commence from July 2025, as per the Bin Collection Calendar.

What are the benefits of moving to a kerbside GO collection?

  • Reduce landfill: by separating garden waste, more organic material can be composted rather than ending up in landfill
  • Reduce costs: diverting organics effectively reduces costs associated with landfill disposal fees and the Queensland Waste Levy, which helps to keep waste charges lower
  • Environmental benefits: composting organic waste reduces emissions and returns nutrients to the soil through compost and mulch.

What if I don’t want a GO bin?

The GO bin will be a part of the standard kerbside collection service for all customers and included in your existing waste utility charge similar to the recycling bin.

What are the fees and charges that come with this new service?

The GO bin will be part of the standard waste collection service, included in the waste utility charge that customers pay. The introduction of the GO Bin service won’t cost customers more, as there will be cost savings from
bringing it in.

The waste utility charge increases each financial year for various reasons, one being that the State Waste Levy increases. The introduction of a GO bin means that the waste utility charge increase is minimised due to the reduction of waste going to landfill.
Current GO bin users will see removal of the additional GO bin service charge ($80 p/a).

The exact waste utility charge for 2025-2026 will be announced when council presents its budget, and any potential increase in Ipswich City Council rates will not be due to the city-wide implementation of the GO bin service.

It is worth noting that a number of South East Queensland councils have already moved to, or are moving to, this kind of service.

Will there be any changes to the red lid general waste or yellow lid recycling bin services?

The introduction of the GO service will not impact the existing kerbside collection services. Residents are encouraged to continue using the recycling bin as usual by separating recyclable materials from general waste and placing them in their yellow lid recycling bins.

The GO service is specifically designed to collect organic garden waste and promote resource recovery.

Can I use my own compost bin instead of the GO bin?

Residents are always encouraged to compost at home, this is highly efficient and creates a useful product for reuse at home.

The GO service can be seen as complimentary to home composting, if you are already doing that, and provides additional capacity if not everything can be dealt with at home, such as large volumes of grass clippings or weeds.

Will the service change for residents who have already opted in to GO?

No, residents who have already opted into the GO service will not experience any changes. Their existing service will remain the same.

Current GO bin users have an ’additional GO bin service‘ charge ($80 p/a) on their Ipswich City Council rates notices. This will be removed. All domestic properties will pay a single waste utility charge that will include: one red lid general waste bin, one yellow lid recycling bin and one green lid GO bin. The waste utility charge is incorporated into your overall Ipswich City Council rates.

Can businesses or commercial entities participate in the GO service?

The core GO service is being implemented for residential properties. However, it is possible in the future, council recognises the important part businesses and commercial properties play in recovering organic materials.

Council is still considering how it may include businesses and commercial entities. Information about the processes, eligibility and participation of non-residential properties will be communicated separately, once finalised.

Is my property eligible for the GO service?

All standalone single unit dwelling households which currently have a 240L red lid general waste bin and 240/360L yellow lid recycling bin are eligible for a 240L GO bin.

Current ineligible properties:

  • Multi-unit dwellings (MUDs) are ineligible at this stage. Council is reviewing alternative GO solutions for MUDs for potential future implementation.
  • Properties in Ipswich that do not currently have a council domestic waste service.

What is the size of the GO bin?

Only 240L bins will be delivered. Existing 360L bins will be phased out and replaced with 240L bins when they become broken, non-functional, or stolen.

Does council sell the green waste at a profit?

Council pays to manage, transport and process organic materials, it does not sell the material. Processing Garden Organics will become significantly cheaper than managing general waste in coming years.

Does the green bin get picked up by a separate truck? What happens with the green waste?

Yes, dedicated trucks collect green waste and deliver it to certified composters to be turned into mulch and soil improvers.

Can I have more than one GO bin?

Yes, a second or subsequent GO bin can be ordered from 1 July 2025, charges apply. However, you will need to ensure that there is enough space for you to store the bin at your property and that there is room at the front of your property for the additional bin to be placed at kerbside for servicing.

What if I have too much garden material for my GO bin?

If your GO bin is too full or too heavy, it may not be serviced. You can continue to take garden waste to the Riverview and Rosewood Recycling and Refuse Centres, where it will be mulched and turned into compost. Alternatively, you can apply for an additional GO bin.

Why has my GO bin not been serviced?

Your GO bin will not be serviced if it is too heavy or has the wrong materials inside. It is essential that only accepted materials go into the GO bin. Items such as plastic bags, boxes, general waste, soil, etc. will contaminate garden organic waste making it unsuitable for composting purposes. If GO bins continue to be contaminated, the bin maybe removed from the property.

Whatever happened to FOGO?

What happened to FOGO?

In 2019/2020, council found that 15,500 tonnes of compostable organics were being lost to landfill. This is enough to fertilise all the land in Ipswich!

To change this, we explored the introduction of FOGO (Food Organics and Garden Organics) through a successful trial period at Bellbird Park and Raceview. Since the trial, almost one third of the Ipswich community have opted in for the service.

Interestingly, we have found that Ipswich households are much more likely to use the bins for garden organics, rather than food organics. In addition to this, the Queensland Government is responding to community concerns around waste odours, and are looking to change environmental standards for composting. With these changes, food organics will be considered highly odorous, and will require significant infrastructure upgrades to process.

Based on this, Ipswich City Council’s FOGO service is transitioning away from the collection of food organics (meat, dairy, food scraps and eggshells). The FOGO bins will remain at households and continue as GO bins (grass clippings, leaves, small branches and weeds).

Why did council make this change?

Ipswich has been a leader in food organics as part of the opt-in green waste household waste collection.

Participating residents have demonstrated positive behaviours in diverting their food scraps from landfill through the FOGO service. However, there have been recent significant developments in the waste industry as well as proposed legislative changes by the State Government that would classify food organics as ‘highly odorous’.

The council and our community have been strong advocates for substantial changes in organic composting processes to address the odour issues faced by our residents. As a result, council has decided to cease food organics as part of the green lid bin service until such time as these external issues are resolved.

With this decision finalised your green lid FOGO bins will now be known as a Garden Organic (GO) bin.

What does this mean for my green lid bin?

The green lid bin at your household will continue to be used for the collection of garden organics such as grass clippings, leaves, small branches and weeds. These items are the vast bulk of material currently collected in green lid bins.

As such, we anticipate there will be minimal impact for most residents with this opt-in service. All other aspects of your service will remain unchanged, including bin collection days and schedules.

When was the FOGO to GO change completed?

From 30 September 2024, the now known as GO service no longer accepted food organics in the green lid bin.

Why did we transition from FOGO to GO?

When the council initiated the FOGO program, we were doing so in line with the Queensland Government's Organics Strategy. However, the issues with odour, contamination, and the lack of compliant organic processors in the market have proven more significant than expected.

Queensland’s environmental regulator, the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI), has identified Food Organics (FO) as a source of odour at organic processing facilities. As such, Ipswich City Council has decided to temporarily pause the collection of household Food Organics.

This pause will remain in effect until we can ensure that the processing of these materials is safe, compliant, and financially sustainable.

I already have a FOGO bin, what does the transition from FOGO to GO mean for me?

All green lid bins will stay at households and collection schedules will remain the same.

The only change households with green lid bins are that they will no longer be able to be used for food organics. Garden organics will continue to be accepted in the green lid bins.

The diversion of food waste is very important however due to recent legislative changes and the operational impacts of those, we are asking residents to avoid placing the food component in their organics bin.

Letters will be sent to all residents who currently have an Opt-in FOGO service (including tenants). The letter will detail the changes and why and provide detail regarding acceptable items for the GO service. This will not require any physical changes to the bins or the service. A copy of this letter can be seen here.

What happens if we continue to put food organics in the light green lid bin?

We encourage residents to follow the new guidelines that the council has provided to ensure efficient waste management that benefits all the community.

Like any other material we don’t want in a bin, high volumes of that material may end up in landfill.

Alternate food organics recovery programs

Council is considering and investigating potential food recovery programs. To review the feedback council received visit Shapeyouripswich.com.au/organics