Food and green waste makes up 40 per cent of the average garbage bin in Stonnington, ending up in landfill.
In Stonnington, we're supporting every resident to give their food and green waste a second life.
Get a food and green waste bin
Sign up for your food and green waste bin.
For household owners
City of Stonnington collects the food and green waste bin every two weeks. It's an opt-in service. You can request a food and green waste bin for your household online.
Request a bin for your household
For owners corporations
Apartment blocks with City of Stonnington waste services can request food and green waste bins. An owners corporation representative will need to fill out the request form.
You can save money by reducing the amount of garbage bins your building has. If you've ordered extra garbage bins in the past, swap some for food and green waste bins.
For more information, view our Owners corporation managers information pack(PDF, 828KB).
Request a bin for your property
For renters
If you rent a property, only owners and owners corporation agents can change your waste service. This is because a cost is added to the rates notice, which the owner pays. However, there are other ways you can give your food and green waste a second life.
If you rent a house or unit with a private outdoor space, you can:
- ask your landlord to get a food and green waste bin
- compost at home and enjoy the benefits in your garden.
If you rent an apartment, you can:
What goes in your food and green waste bin
What goes in this bin
The following items can go in your food and green waste bin:
- bones, meat, meat scraps or seafood
- branches (up to 10 cm in diameter and 40 cm long)
- bread, cakes or pastries
- citrus, onion or garlic
- coffee grounds, coffee beans or loose leaf tea
- compostable lime green liners (look for the code AS4736 on the liner)
- dairy and egg products (including shells)
- fruit and vegetable scraps and waste
- hair (human and animal)
- lawn or grass clippings
- leaves
- leftovers
- expired food
- newspapers (small amounts, soiled or wet)
- paper towel
- pasta or rice
- tissues
- shredded paper
- toothpicks, skewers, cutlery and chopsticks (uncoated, wooden or bamboo).
What doesn't go in this bin
The following items can't go in your food and green waste bin:
- compostable packaging
- coffee pods and tea bags
- cooking oil
- dirt, stones, soil, sand, bricks or rubble
- food packaging (plastic, cardboard or compostable)
- hoses
- household garbage
- garden pots
- kitty litter
- liners that aren't lime green and do not have a AS 4736 logo
- liquids (cooking oils, sauces)
- nappies (including compostable)
- packaging (compostable)
- pet poo
- plastic bags and wraps
- shellfish shells (hard such as oyster shells)
- stickers and labels.
For a full list of what to do with your food and green waste, view what to do with my waste and recycling.
How to reduce odours and prevent pests
If you are concerned about your food and green waste bin or kitchen caddy becoming smelly or attracting pests, there are a number of things that you can do:
- line your caddy with a certified compostable lime green liner (look for code AS4736), a small amount of paper towel or newspaper
- rinse your caddy out regularly and wash out your bin to remove any residual food scraps from time to time
- freeze particularly smelly food waste items before placing them in the bin (such as bones, dairy and meat products)
- sprinkle bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) in your caddy or bin to absorb smells
- keep the lid of your bin or caddy securely closed
- layer food waste in between lawn clippings or garden prunings in your bin
- keep your food and green waste bin in the shade.
What happens to your food and green waste
Bio Gro is the composting facility that processes Stonnington's food and green waste. It's sorted, shredded and mixed with green waste from other councils and businesses. It's then processed into mulch and compost.
Our gardeners use the compost in Stonnington's parks and reserves to keep them healthy. The compost is also put to work on farms, vineyards and orchards across Victoria to grow food for our tables.
Kitchen caddy and liners
A caddy is a small bin that can sit on your kitchen bench, making it easy to collect food scraps to put into your bin later. If you have a Council food and green waste bin, you can get a free caddy from our Customer Service Centres.
To line your kitchen caddy or container, use:
- newspaper
- paper towel or napkins
- certified compostable lime green caddy liners (displaying the code AS 4736 on liner)
Caddy liners
If you use a caddy liner, it must:
- be labelled as ‘certified compostable’
- be lime green in colour
- display AS 4736 codes
Food waste drop-off trial
As part of an eight-month trial, residents in apartments that don't have access to a food and green waste bin can now compost their food waste at our food waste drop-off points. The food waste is then collected and processed into mulch and compost by Bio Gro.
Where can I drop-off my food waste?
The drop-off points are located at:
- Armadale Baptist Church, Armadale
- Claremont Street, South Yarra - closer to Yarra Street entrance, in front of Melbourne High School oval
- Nearby Grattan Gardens Community Centre, 40 Grattan Street, Prahran.
Each drop-off point includes signage to support their correct use.
Ellis Street carpark, South Yarra - Trial closed
Ellis Street carpark food waste drop-off trial has ended and the bin has been removed. Please use another drop-off point.
How to use our food waste drop-off points
To use our food waste drop-off point:
- use a small container with a lid to collect food waste at home
- fill the container with food scraps such as meat, seafood, bones, dairy, vegetables, onions and citrus
- when full, take your container to your nearest food waste drop-off point
- rinse out your container at home.
Use our A-Z waste and recycling guide to view a full list of items you can compost at home.
Are liners accepted?
Yes, compostable lime green liners (look for the code AS4736 on the packaging) can be used to collect your food scraps. These can be purchased from local supermarkets.
Provide feedback on our food waste drop-off points
Let us know what you think and whether we can improve the service with this short survey.
If you notice an overflowing bin or unpleasant odour at a drop-off point, email council@stonnington.vic.gov.au or call customer service on 03 8290 1333.
Compost at home
We actively support our residents to enjoy the benefits of composting at home. Using compost in your garden improves soil health, conserves water and prevents soil erosion.
Stonnington residents can access up to 60 per cent off compost bins, bokashi systems and worm farms through our partner Compost Revolution.
If you live in an apartment building, you can apply to join our Apartment Composting Program. The program provides apartment buildings with up to three compost systems or worm farms for free. This is a great option if your building has a shared outdoor space.
Learn more about composting at home or use our A-Z waste and recycling guide to find out what items you can compost.