Food scraps and garden material collected from Greater Bendigo households will soon be processed locally. This will create jobs for our region; reduce transport requirements and the carbon footprint of managing our waste; and contribute to a circular economy.
The City of Greater Bendigo has engaged Western Composting Technology (WCT) to process material collected through the kerbside organics service. WCT has established a commercial composting facility in Huntly, meaning food scraps and garden material placed in organics bins will be turned into compost right here in Bendigo.
Around 19,000 tonnes of food and garden organic material is collected from Greater Bendigo households each year. Currently this is transported over an hour away for processing in Stanhope. Local processing is an important step towards a more circular economy, where resources are recycled and reused close to where they are generated.
To maximise the quality of the compost produced, some items that used to go in the kerbside organics bin will no longer be accepted.
From October 1, 2026 only food scraps, garden material, raw timber and caddy liners provided by the City will be able to go in the organics bin. All other items will either need to go in your general waste or recycling bins, or be taken to a City Recycling Centre.
FAQs
From time to time, the City updates what can go in our bins based on processor requirements and improvements across the resource recovery industry.
After 10 years, the City has engaged a local processor to turn our food and garden organics into compost, right here in Bendigo! This means we no longer need to transport our organic material outside of Greater Bendigo for processing.
Our new processor, Western Composting Technology (WCT) has several measures in place to prevent contamination and maximise the quality of the end-product. This means some of the things we used to accept will no longer be able to go in the organics bin.
From October 1, 2026, only food scraps, garden material, raw timber and caddy liners provided by the City can go in the organics bin. All other items will either need to go in your general waste or recycling bin, or be taken to a City Recycling Centre.
- All food, including cooking scraps, expired food, meat, seafood, bones, citrus, and dairy products
- Garden material, clippings, prunings, weeds and branches (less than 10cm diameter)
- Compostable caddy liners provided by the City (no other brands)
- Natural timber (untreated, unstained)
Caddy liners are not compulsory. Food scraps should go in the organics bin loose where possible. For more information about accepted caddy liners, visit Compostable caddy liners | City of Greater Bendigo
From October 1, 2026 the following items can no longer go in your kerbside organics bin.
These items must now go in your recycling bin:
- All cardboard, including raw cardboard and pizza boxes
- All clean paper and newspaper
These items must now go in your general waste bin:
- Soiled and greasy paper
- Shredded paper
- Paper towel and tissues
- Pet waste, including dog poo, cat poo and kitty litter
- Hair and animal fur
- Tea bags
- Wooden skewers, cutlery and toothpicks
- Bioplastics, such as takeaway coffee cups and containers, including those with the AS 4736 logo
For more information about accepted caddy liners, visit Compostable caddy liners | City of Greater Bendigo
Some paper-based items are created with harmful chemicals, such as PFAS. We do not want these chemicals in our compost as they are damaging to human health and the environment.
Labelling can be confusing and misleading. While some of these items are compostable, we do not have the capacity to verify this at the point of collection, or at the composting facility. To keep our compost free of contamination, please put these items in the red lidded general waste bin. Alternatively, these items can be composted at home where suitable.
There are many different types of cardboard. Often cardboard contains dyes, inks, wax, or plastic coatings which make them unsuitable for composting. Additionally, cardboard has more value when recycled than when it is composted.
All cardboard can go in the yellow lidded recycling bin. If you have a lot of cardboard and it doesn’t fit, you can request a larger or additional recycle bin at www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/waste or by calling 1300 002 642. It is also free to drop off cardboard at any of the City’s Recycling Centres.
Remember: always flatten cardboard for recycling and don’t squash the contents of your bin.
Pet poo can contain harmful bacteria, parasites and residues from veterinary treatments. These materials present additional health and safety risks for workers at composting facilities, so pet poo is not accepted in the organics bin and should be placed in the red lidded general waste bin. This includes kitty litter and other animal droppings.
Did you know pet poo can be home-composted?
Home composting is a great way to improve soil health and keep waste out of landfill. Pet poo needs to be kept separate from other home composting systems and shouldn’t be used on food-producing garden beds. Products such as the EnsoPet Poo Composter are easy to use and require very little space.
No, these changes are cost-neutral and will not increase the charges associated with processing our food and garden organics.
WCT will operate a commercial composting facility located in Huntly from late 2026.
Around 19,000 tonnes of organic material is collected from Greater Bendigo households each year. Currently this is transported over an hour away for processing in Stanhope. Local processing is an important step towards a more circular economy, where resources are recycled and reused close to where they are generated.
For more information about WCT visit https://www.westerncompost.com.au/
WCT use Horstmann-WTT tunnel composting technology from Germany which involves the following steps:
- Organic material is decontaminated and loaded into sealed concrete tunnels.
- Organic material generates heat as it decomposes, resulting in pasteurisation which kills bacteria and weeds.
- After 8-14 days the material is removed from the tunnel for grinding before being organised into windrows.
- The windrows are watered and aerated regularly, helping with maturation and further decontamination.
- The compost is then sold to developers, landscape suppliers and farmers.
Yes, the City will continue to run the Free Compost Program. Please keep an eye out on our social media, in the Bendigo Advertiser, or subscribe to GB News for event announcements.