How to reduce food waste at home

Australians throw away around one in five bags of groceries, costing households up to $2,500, each year.

Reducing food waste is one of the most effective actions individuals can take to lower their environmental impact. By buying only what you need and using what you buy, you can save money and reduce the resources wasted in producing, transporting and disposing of food.

Any unavoidable food scraps can be composted at home or placed in your FOGO bin to be turned into compost.

Eat it Don’t Bin it

Our Eat it Don’t Bin it program helps you create delicious fuss-free meals that save time and use up all your ingredients. Our top 3 actions for keeping food out of your bin and money in your wallet:

Make items that need using up in your pantry fridge and freezer easy to see and find
Once a week make a meal out of foods and leftovers that need using up
Before cooking check how many will be eating and adjust the amount you cook to minimise how much is left over

To explore the full program tools and resources visit Conversations Merri-bek Eat it Don’t Bin it or visit The Great Unwaste.

Compost Community

If you are looking to start your own worm farm or compost system at home, you can get advice and discounted equipment as a Merri-bek resident.

What is Compost Community and what does it offer?

Compost Community is an organisation that provides composting advice and offers Merri-bek residents discounted compost bins, equipment and worm farms thanks to a partnership with Merri-bek City Council.

The program offers a wide range of compost bins and worm farms at wholesale prices. You can also buy individual components such as worms or compost matting.

How do I access these discounted composting products?

Go the Compost Community website and click the image that says ‘Join today’ to create a user account.
Then go to the ‘Order’ tab and click on ‘Merri-bek’ to see the wide range of products on offer.
To access the discount you will be need to enter the discount code provided and complete a short survey and commit to a follow up survey in 6 months.

By joining Compost Community you also get advice on which product will best suit your needs as well as ongoing support to get the best results from your compost bin or worm farm.

How do I set up my compost bin or worm farm?

For information on how to set up a compost bin or worm farm, please visit the Compost bins and worm farms page on the Merri-bek City Council website.

Get started

For more information on the program, you can visit the Compost Community website.

Sign up to Peels or find a compost hub

Community composting is an alternative for people who are unable to compost their food waste at home.

What is Peels?

Peels is a free, non-commercial, community run digital platform that allows neighbours to share their compost bins with others in the local community. Peels stepped in to fill the gap left by ShareWaste when it closed at the end of 2024. Like Sharewaste, Peels connects people with food scraps to those who compost. This allows community members to either dispose of their food waste in a sustainable way or receive additional supplies to feed backyard chickens and make compost to nourish their garden.

How do I take part in Peels?

Peels is free to join. Visit their website and use the map to find a host nearby. Sign up and contact the host and make arrangements to either drop off or pick up food scraps. You can also register your compost bin, worm farm or backyard chickens if you are happy to accept additional food waste scraps from your neighbours.

Local cafes may also be able to participate in Peels if local farms or community gardens have the capacity to receive larger volumes of food waste.

How does composting work?

The hubs are made up of either worm farms or compost bins or bays. These composting systems rely on worms and other microorganisms to break down the food waste and convert it into compost or castings and worm juice. Not all food waste can be added to a compost bin or worm farm. Go to composting bins and worm farms to find out what can and cannot be placed in a compost bin.

What is a compost hub?

Community composting hubs are another way to assist people who are unable to compost their food waste at home. Hubs are established by some community gardens where composted material donated by residents is used to grow food.

Not all community gardens have publicly available composting hubs. Many community gardens have limited space and capacity and can therefore only manage small volumes of food waste.

Pentridge Community Garden compost hub

Pentridge Community Garden in Coburg has a community composting hub which can be accessed during opening hours (usually Sunday mornings and whenever the gate is open) or any time if you are a Friend of the Garden member.

Find out more on the Pentridge Community Garden website or on the Pentridge Community Garden Facebook page.

Council’s Food and garden organics collection

If you cannot compost at home, Merri-bek City Council offers a weekly kerbside collection service for your food and garden waste.

What is the food and garden organics (FOGO) service?

Merri-bek residents can place their food waste into the green lid food and garden organics (FOGO) bin alongside garden matter. This service helps to create compost and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill which would produce large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. This bin is collected weekly.

What kinds of food waste can I put in the FOGO bin?

You can put food scraps such as meat, dairy, citrus, bread, pasta and onion peelings along with leaves, grass clippings, twigs and branches and weeds into your FOGO bin. Please do not place plastic bags or packaging (including compostable and biodegradable) into the FOGO bin as these items are not accepted by our organics processor.

Follow the link below for more information on what items to include and exclude from your FOGO bin.

Why should I put my food waste into the FOGO bin?

This service helps to reduce carbon emissions within the community – over 25% of an average household garbage bin in Merri-bek is filled with food waste which releases greenhouse gas emissions as it breaks down in landfill. By sending food waste to a facility that processes this waste into nutrient-rich compost and other soil conditioners, we are supporting the circular economy and greenhouse gas emissions are significantly reduced

Who can access the FOGO service?

All Merri-bek residents paying the waste charge can access a FOGO bin. Residents who do not have a FOGO bin can request one through Merri-bek City Council via the page below. Residents can collect a kitchen caddy from one of our customer service centres while stocks last, to store their food scraps prior to emptying them into their FOGO bin.

More information

To find out more, please visit the Merri-bek City Council webpage on Food and Garden Organics.