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Always in the green bin: all food scraps – but not the packaging

All food scraps, including citrus, onion, dairy, meat, bones, fish, fruit and vegetables, need to be recycled through your green bin (unless you have a home composting system set up).

But before you put any food scraps into your green bin, be sure to remove all packaging first (unless it's compostable). That includes things like plastic packets, bags and containers, and glass jars.

When you put food scraps into your green bin, they’re taken to a commercial composting facility to be processed and made into valuable compost, soil and mulch products, which are then used on South Australian farms and vineyards, and in household gardens as well.

Currently in SA, around 40% of waste placed in landfill bins is food and other compostable items, like paper towel and tissues.

When organic waste is sent to landfill, it rots and releases methane – a harmful greenhouse gas with 21 times the global warming potential of carbon. It also wastes the water, fuel and resources required to create, transport and store the food.

You can do your bit for the environment by placing food and other organic waste in your green bin for recycling.