FOGO business mandates for councils

Businesses (relevant premises) within scope of the legislation can be found on the FOGO mandates and rollout page.

The business mandate start dates are available on the FOGO mandates and rollout page.

The EPA has written to 55,000 hospitality and retail business, as well as institutions to advise them of the changes and directing them to information and other resources on the EPA website.

Regular information sessions have also been held presenting the detail of the requirements and providing an opportunity for businesses to ask questions. A recording of one of the sessions is available on the Business food waste webpage.

A $1 million statewide advertising campaign is being delivered across multiple platforms, in various languages. We are also working with industry associations, councils, government departments and waste service providers to inform their networks about the business mandates and support available. The $7 million Business Food Waste Partnership program is supporting projects that raise awareness, educate, train and support businesses to meet mandate requirements.

Yes. Council-owned/run premises must comply if they fall within the categories of relevant premises and have weekly residual waste capacity at a volume that falls within the thresholds.

Yes, seasonal businesses need to comply with the business mandate. If a premises increases or reduces its bin capacity above or below the limits from time to time, this will affect whether or not the business mandate applies at certain times in the year.

Yes, it is acceptable for businesses to use these technologies to manage FOGO waste onsite, as long as they continue to meet the core business mandate requirements.

If the relevant premises meets the threshold and manages its own waste contract, it is wholly responsible for meeting the business mandate requirements. If the waste contract is managed by a separate entity, such as the property owner or facilities manager, like in a shopping centre, then it is the waste contract owner’s responsibility to work proactively with the tenanted businesses to ensure FOGO waste is managed in accordance with the mandate. This includes supplying a sufficient number of FOGO bins if the waste contract owner is responsible for bin provision under the contract. The owner of the waste contract is also responsible for ensuring FOGO waste collection occurs at least once a week.

Section 6 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) details the appropriate regulatory authorities for activities covered by the Act. The EPA is the appropriate regulatory authority for scheduled activities and for activities undertaken by public authorities.

Local councils are the appropriate regulatory authority for non-scheduled activities in their area including compliance for the food organics mandates by businesses. We provide training for council officers to become Enforcement Officers for the purpose of the POEO Act. Many council environmental health officers are also POEO Enforcement Officers.

Check whether relevant premises must comply with the business mandate by assessing whether they have weekly residual (general) waste capacities that equal or exceed the relevant thresholds. The online calculator can assist https://bintrim.epa.nsw.gov.au/fogocalculator

If the premises is found to be within the scope of the business mandate, it may be appropriate to request and review records (i.e. invoices or contracts) to ensure:

• a sufficient number of food organics collection bins is provided for the food organics waste generated by the relevant premises
• food organics waste is transported separately from non-organic waste
• food organics waste is collected at least once per week.

The regulatory response should be appropriate and ‘fit for purpose’ considering the individual circumstances of the non-compliance.

This may result in more than one regulatory action or tool being used in any combination or series, such as:

• non-statutory approaches such as education, advisory letters and formal warnings
• statutory enforcement such as penalty infringement notices as set out in Schedule 6 of the POEO General Regulation
• prosecutions for serious breaches or repeat offenders.

Council officers are encouraged to use their regulatory discretion in line with their delegations, powers and their own relevant regulatory frameworks and guidelines.

There is a free downloadable Guideline for Authorised Officers and Enforcement Officers under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 – Powers and notices guideline for authorised officers and enforcement officers.

Council officers who have the appropriate training and certification to become Enforcement Officers under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) can check compliance with the business mandate.

Alternatively, council officers can become Authorised Officers under the Food Act 2003 in order to check compliance with the requirements of that Act. Section 170G of the POEO Act explicitly provides that an Authorised Officer under the Food Act is taken to be an Authorised Officer for the purposes of section 170F (i.e. the business mandate) of the POEO Act. Therefore, appropriately authorised council officers can check compliance with both the Food Act and section 170F of the POEO Act in one inspection.

Any penalty notices issued by council Authorised Officers will be retained by the relevant council to support ongoing compliance efforts.

Schedule 6 of the Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Regulation 2022 sets out the penalty notice amounts for offences under the POEO Act.

Penalty notice amounts for non-compliance with section 170F (the business mandate) of the POEO Act range from $1,000 for a first offence by an individual and $5,000 for a first offence by a corporation to $1,500 and $7,500 respectively for subsequent offences.

The EPA has included a section on the FOGO mandates in its two-day POEO Act course for Authorised Officers  within local government. We are also looking into creating stand-alone online modules to cover this topic. All training can be booked through EPA’s learning portal.

The fixed penalty handbook will be updated with the relevant penalty provisions when they come into force.

Authorised Officers can find instructions for accessing the Fixed penalty handbooks on the EPA website.

The NSW EPA has granted a number of early generic exemptions from the FOGO mandates to help support a practical transition for councils and businesses. These exemptions aim to respond to common challenges. Additional generic exemptions may also be considered.

Councils and businesses are able to apply for a custom exemption if no generic exemption applies and compliance with the FOGO mandates is demonstrated to pose an unreasonable burden.

The FOGO exemptions webpage provides information on all existing generic exemptions.

Councils can advise businesses seeking an exemption of the Custom exemptions webpage and application process.

Before applying for a custom exemption, it is recommended that businesses check whether a generic exemption already covers the situation. If not, businesses should consider discussing the situation with their relevant peak body to help identify and consider consistent challenges arising in the community.

The EPA may grant further generic exemptions to complement existing exemptions. This will reduce the need for individual custom applications and the time needed to prepare detailed individual evidence and justification. It is intended to streamline the exemption process as much as possible to assist councils, institutions and businesses.

Shopping centres: 
Shopping Centre Council of Australia
Contact: Oliver Everett, [email protected] 
+61 2 9299 3512

Retailers:
National Retail Association (NRA)
Contact: [email protected] 
1800 738 245 

If the council doesn’t yet provide a household FOGO service and is located outside of Greater Sydney, the rural business exemption will automatically apply.

In all other circumstances, the business will need to apply for a custom exemption citing geographic constraints.

A communication pack is available to promote the mandate. It includes copies of the campaign video and advert, flyer and images to use on social media. Email [email protected] for a copy to be sent to you.

All business food waste resources can be adapted and used to help communicate requirements, including materials produced by Business Food Waste Partnership grant recipients. 

Compost made from food waste provides significant environmental benefits, provided contamination is prevented at the source. To produce high-quality compost, it is critical that only food waste is placed in food waste bins. 

Find out what can and can’t go in the FOGO bin.

For guidance on improving waste management, businesses can sign up to Bin Trim. A range of case studies, videos, signage and sector guides that have been developed to help businesses train their staff and meet the new requirements are also available.

To set up a separate food waste collection, businesses can contact their existing waste service provider.  If they don’t have an existing waste service provider, businesses can check Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You for providers servicing their area.

Residential accommodation that receives a commercial waste collection service, such as student accommodation and certain apartment buildings, are within the scope of the business mandate. However, this only applies from 1 July 2030 where the accommodation has a weekly residual waste bin capacity of at least 660L.

As local councils are the appropriate regulatory authority for non-scheduled activities in their area under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act), local councils are responsible for ensuring commercially-serviced residential premises are compliant with the business mandate.

Council officers may have powers of entry under the Local Government Act 1993, which they can use to access areas that allow them to assess compliance. Council officers could request permission from the Strata Manager or Owners Committee in the first instance. If permission is not given, council officers should seek advice from council’s legal personnel.