![Balgownie's Mandy Lawler gets into the spirit of FOGO. File picture by Robert Peet Balgownie's Mandy Lawler gets into the spirit of FOGO. File picture by Robert Peet](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/gk4M5TtAHFtAbb98BYfYMb/fdf0f7c0-541a-408b-8257-2affa614f20b.jpg/r0_0_5472_3648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
New rules for what can go into the FOGO bins will come in next month for Shellharbour, Wollongong and Kiama.
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And to answer the most frequently asked of the FAQs: pizza boxes go in the yellow lid recycling bin - as long as the box is empty.
The Environment Protection Authority has tightened up what it says should and should not go in the green waste bins, called Food Organics, Garden Organics (FOGO).
No paper, cardboard or tissues should be put in the FOGO - and no teabags. This goes for baking paper, coffee filters and paper bags.
Also out are packaging or bags which are labelled as "compostable" - other than kitchen caddy liner bags approved under Australian Standards.
So any leftover pizza crusts go in the FOGO, and recycle the box.
The EPA says papers can contain additives to provide water and grease resistance, which can include per and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS) which can harm people and the environment.
Compostable bags are undesirable because they are single-use, and because there needs to be evidence they break down under normal conditions at commercial composting facilities to produce "high quality and safe" compost.
"A circular economy aims to keep materials in the productive economy and decrease the need for new materials," the EPA's website states.
"Compostable alternatives to single-use plastic items are not recyclable and are only used once before being composted or disposed of so do not fit with a circular economy approach."
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Shellharbour residents will be receiving more caddy liner bags delivered this month and the city council said an education campaign was underway.
A council spokeswoman said the changes should not cause much trouble.
"Recent audits have found that only 2.3 per cent of Shellharbour's FOGO consists of the materials now not accepted in FOGO bins," she said.
"Overall, there will be no dramatic changes to the FOGO service and organics we are composting.
"Residents can put their cardboard, pizza boxes and newspaper into the yellow-lid recycling bin. Paper towel, tissues, tea bags, bamboo and compostable packaging should go into the red-lid landfill bin."
The changes will be implemented from September 1.
A Wollongong City Council spokeswoman said the council would be "phasing out educational materials that referred to soiled paper and cardboard being accepted in FOGO".
"We're proud that the majority of our residents have embraced FOGO, and this shows in our low contamination rates," she said.
"There's still a lot of food waste entering our landfill through the red-lidded general waste bins. Everyone can make simple changes today to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill."
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