Since 1 July 2026, NSW law requires the largest food businesses to separate food waste from general rubbish and have it collected weekly. Here is who is covered, the staged thresholds, the penalties, and how to set up your bins.
If you run a food business in NSW, the rules have changed. Since 1 July 2026, the largest food-waste generators must separate food organics from their general waste and have it collected on its own. This is a legal duty, not a council recommendation, and NSW is the first state in the country to compel businesses this way.
Here is the plain version of what the law asks, who it covers, and how to get your bins set up if you are in scope now or will be in the next stages.
The duty comes from the Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment (FOGO Recycling) Act 2025, which amends the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. The NSW EPA is the regulator.
For businesses, the requirement is a source-separated food organics (FO) collection. That is an important distinction. Households in NSW are moving to FOGO, which combines food organics and garden organics in one bin. The business obligation is food organics only, kept separate from your general waste, collected at least once a week. Garden waste is a household concern; for a cafe or a supermarket, it is the food scraps that matter.
In short: a dedicated food-waste bin, collected weekly, separate from your red-lid general waste.
The mandate targets "relevant premises" that generate meaningful volumes of food waste. That includes:
If your business prepares, sells or serves food at scale, assume you are in scope and confirm your tier with the EPA.
The rollout is staged by how much residual (general) waste capacity your site has. The more general waste you produce, the sooner you must comply.
The exact litre thresholds are set by the EPA and have been quoted slightly differently by some collection companies. Use the EPA figures as your guide, and see our plain-English guide to working out your FOGO tier if you are not sure which stage your site falls into.
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Get your exact priceThese are real numbers. The maximum penalty for failing to comply is up to $500,000 for a company and up to $250,000 for an individual, with further daily penalties for an offence that continues. The point is not to frighten you, it is to make clear this sits alongside your other environmental duties, not below them.
The practical work is smaller than the legislation makes it sound.
Pulling food waste out of your general bin does two useful things. It shrinks the general-waste volume you pay a landfill levy on, and it gets you compliant before your stage lands. Every food business in your catchment will be sourcing organics collection in the same window, so the operators with capacity will fill up. Sorting it early is the calmer path.
Is this FOGO or FO? For NSW businesses it is FO, food organics only, kept separate from general waste. FOGO (food and garden combined) is the household kerbside system. Do not confuse the two.
Does this apply outside NSW? No. NSW is the only state that legally compels businesses to separate food waste. Other states have targets, incentives and rising levies, but no business food-waste mandate at this stage.
What if I am a small cafe under the threshold? You are not in Stage 1, but the thresholds tighten in 2028 and 2030, and separating food waste cuts your general-waste cost regardless. Setting up early is sensible.
Obligations change each 1 July, so confirm your exact tier and start date with your council or the NSW EPA before you commit.
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Stage 1 took effect on 1 July 2026 for the largest generators (residual capacity around 3,960 litres or more). Stage 2 follows on 1 July 2028 and Stage 3 on 1 July 2030. Confirm your tier with the NSW EPA.
For businesses it is food organics (FO) only, separated from general waste and collected at least weekly. FOGO combining food and garden waste is the household kerbside system.
Maximum penalties run up to $500,000 for a company and $250,000 for an individual, with additional daily penalties for continuing offences, under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 as amended.
More resources to help you choose the right bins, schedules, and services.
Adelaide cafes can book a dedicated organics bin alongside general waste, cardboard and recycling. Why food scraps are the expensive part of your bin, and how to size an organics service that pays for itself.
The City of Adelaide asks businesses to keep flattened cardboard out of general waste and runs CBD cardboard collections and laneway hubs. Here is what that guidance means and how a dedicated cardboard bin fits.
Hospitality waste is heavy, wet, and fast. How Adelaide venues size their general bins, why the organics stream is the quiet cost-saver, and what the CBD's laneway precincts mean for bin placement.
View coverage and availability for these cities.
