FOGO Bin Liners in Victoria: Which Liners Are Actually Compliant (2026)
Victoria's FOGO rollout means the wrong caddy liner can get a whole bin left unemptied or a load sent to landfill. Here is the plain-English answer on which liners pass, which fail, and how to buy compliant ones by the carton in Melbourne.
If your venue has a lime-green lidded bin out the back, that is the Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) stream, and what you put inside the caddy matters more than most operators realise. Drop in a bag that says "degradable" or "biodegradable" on the box and you have not done the eco thing - you have contaminated the bin. A contaminated FOGO caddy can be left unemptied on collection day, and at the processing facility a contaminated load can be rejected and sent to landfill. That is a costly mistake to make every week.
The trap is that "eco-looking" packaging is everywhere, and very little of it is legal for a FOGO bin. The word that does the heavy lifting is not "green", "eco" or "biodegradable" - it is "certified compostable to AS 4736". Get that one detail right and you are compliant; get it wrong and you are paying for a liner that gets your bin rejected.
Victoria is moving every household to a standardised four-bin system under the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021: a lime-green FOGO bin, plus yellow recycling, purple glass and a red general-waste bin. A separate glass service reaches all households by 2027 and a FOGO service by 2030, and 57 of the state's 79 councils already run a kerbside FOGO collection. For a hospitality, aged-care or office operator, that means the lime-green bin is arriving whether or not you have thought about liners yet.
This is the compliance guide, not a sizes guide and not a biodegradable-versus-compostable explainer - we link to both of those below. Here we cover Victoria's rollout, what councils actually accept, why AS 4736 is the benchmark, and exactly which liner a Melbourne business buys to stay on the right side of it. The one-line answer is in the box below.
The short version
- The compliant liner for a Victorian FOGO bin is a certified compostable caddy liner carrying the AS 4736 mark (the green seedling logo plus a certification number) - plant-based and sized to your benchtop caddy.
- "Degradable", "biodegradable" and oxo-degradable bags do NOT qualify anywhere in Victoria. They have no enforced compost standard and break down into microplastics. Councils treat them as contamination.
- Some councils want no liner at all, or only newspaper/paper - the accepted-liner rule varies council by council, and a few do not accept any compostable plastic. Always confirm your council's list.
- Get it wrong and the bin may be left unemptied, or the whole load can be rejected and landfilled - so the liner choice is a compliance decision, not just a green one.
The most common mistake
Why "Degradable" and Landfill-Grade Liners Get Rejected
This is where most venues trip up. "Degradable", "biodegradable" and "oxo-degradable" bags sound like they belong in an organics bin, but they are explicitly excluded from FOGO right across Victoria. "Biodegradable" has no enforceable Australian standard behind it - there is no required timeframe and no required end-state, so a bag can be labelled biodegradable and still take years to break down or simply fragment into microplastics. The ACCC treats vague "biodegradable" claims as a greenwashing risk under the Australian Consumer Law for exactly this reason. Oxo-degradable plastics were targeted for phase-out under the National Plastics Plan because they shatter into microplastic fragments rather than composting.
For a FOGO processor, any of these in the load is contamination. The consequences are real and operational:
- No enforced compost standard - "biodegradable" does not mean "compostable" and carries no required breakdown time or temperature.
- They fragment into microplastics that contaminate the finished compost, rather than disappearing into it.
- The caddy or bin can be flagged and left unemptied on the day.
- At the facility, a contaminated load can be rejected and the whole truckload sent to landfill - undoing the diversion for every business on that run.
We will be straight about our own range here: DPack's "Degradable Series" bin liners (the 8L, 12L, 27L, 34L and 50L white liners) are a landfill/degradable polymer. They are a fine general-waste liner for the red-lid bin, but they are not certified compostable and are not FOGO compliant. Do not put them in a lime-green bin.
The compliant choice
What AS 4736 Certification Actually Means - and How to Spot It
AS 4736 is the Australian standard for industrial/commercial composting, and it is the one that matters for kerbside FOGO because council FOGO material goes to commercial composting facilities, not home compost bins. To carry the mark, a liner has to genuinely break down under industrial conditions: a minimum of 90% biodegradation within 180 days, a minimum of 90% disintegration into pieces under 2mm within 12 weeks, no toxicity to plant growth or earthworms, strict heavy-metal limits, and a high organic content. That is a real, tested bar - not a marketing word. (Its sibling, AS 5810, is the home-compost standard, tested at ambient backyard temperatures rather than a hot industrial facility; a liner certified to AS 5810 generally also meets AS 4736, but kerbside FOGO is built around AS 4736.)
At the shelf, you are looking for proof, not promises:
- The green seedling logo on the packaging, which signals AS 4736 industrial-compostable certification.
- A unique certification/licence number printed alongside it - certified liners carry one, and it can be checked against the certifier's register.
- Plant-based material, not a degradable plastic. Lime-green is the FOGO bin lid colour statewide; some councils also want the liner itself to be a certified lime-green compostable bag, while others accept only paper or no liner, so check your council's accepted-liner list.
- The right size - the 8L benchtop caddy liner is the workhorse for cafe prep benches, restaurant pass lines and aged-care kitchen stations.
DPack's compliant option is exactly this: an AS 4736-certified, plant-based 8L compostable kitchen caddy liner at $4.20 ex GST per sleeve of 25 bags, which works out to about $0.17 a bag. It is the FOGO-legal liner in our range - the honest answer to "what do I actually buy". If you want the deeper why-behind-the-words, compare biodegradable vs compostable bin liners.
At a glance
FOGO compliance at a glance: which liner type goes where
A side-by-side of the five liner types a Victorian business is likely to encounter, showing whether each is accepted in the lime-green FOGO bin, what it is genuinely intended for, and the on-pack signal that tells you which one you are holding.
| Liner type | FOGO bin (lime-green lid) OK? | What it is actually for | How to identify it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified compostable (AS 4736) | Yes - this is the compliant choice (where your council allows a liner) | Food and garden organics caddies, commercial composting | Green seedling logo plus a certification number; plant-based (some councils require a lime-green liner) |
| Home compostable (AS 5810) | Generally yes - AS 5810 usually also meets AS 4736; confirm with your council | Home compost bins; generally also meets the industrial AS 4736 standard | Home-compostable verification logo plus a certification number |
| "Degradable" / oxo-degradable | No - treated as contamination | Nothing FOGO; fragments into microplastics, not compost | Labelled "degradable" or "oxo-degradable", no AS 4736/AS 5810 mark |
| Standard plastic / "biodegradable" | No - excluded everywhere in Victoria | General waste (red-lid bin) only; "biodegradable" has no enforced standard | Conventional plastic, or "biodegradable" with no compost certification number |
| Newspaper or no liner | Depends on council - some require exactly this, others allow it | Lining the caddy with paper, or tipping food straight in loose | Plain uncoated newspaper/paper, or simply an empty caddy |
The rows above cover the organics caddy. For sizing the general-waste (red-lid) bin liners that sit alongside it, compare 60L, 80L and 120L garbage bag sizes, or call us on 0416 769 492 if you want a hand matching liners to your bins.
Shop the guide
Liners for every bin in your venue
Certified compostable for the FOGO caddy, heavy-duty plastic for general waste - wholesale ex GST, by the carton.
FOGO caddy - benchtop (lime-green bin)
Certified compostable - 120L bin
General waste - back of house
General waste - large bins
General waste - bulk roll
Match the liner to the lid: a certified compostable liner for the lime-green FOGO caddy, heavy-duty plastic for the red general-waste bin.
Common questions
FOGO bin liner FAQs
Do I have to use a liner in my FOGO bin?
It depends on your council. The accepted-liner rule varies across Victoria - the common options are a certified compostable liner, no liner at all, or newspaper/paper. Some councils require exactly one of these and a few do not accept any compostable plastic, so check your own council's accepted-liner list before you buy a carton.
Are biodegradable or degradable bags OK for FOGO?
No. "Degradable", "biodegradable" and oxo-degradable bags are excluded from FOGO everywhere in Victoria. They have no enforced compost standard, can fragment into microplastics, and councils treat them as contamination - which can mean the bin is left unemptied or the load is rejected and landfilled.
What certification should I look for on a compliant liner?
Look for AS 4736 - the Australian industrial/commercial composting standard that kerbside FOGO is built around. On the packaging that shows up as the green seedling logo together with a unique certification number. A liner certified to the home-compost standard, AS 5810, generally also meets AS 4736.
Can I just use newspaper or no liner instead?
In many Victorian councils, yes - newspaper or no liner is one of the accepted options, and some councils prefer it. But it is council-specific, so do not assume it. Confirm with your local council that loose food scraps or a paper liner is accepted before you change your kitchen routine.
What caddy size should a cafe or restaurant use?
The 8L benchtop caddy is the workhorse for hospitality - it sits on a prep bench or pass line, gets emptied frequently, and pairs with an 8L compostable liner. Higher-volume kitchens simply change the caddy more often or run more than one station rather than jumping to an oversized caddy that sits full.
Does my Victorian business legally have to separate its food waste?
Not yet by a fixed statewide date. The household rollout is mandated under the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021, but Victoria has not gazetted a mandatory commercial food-waste separation start date for businesses. Many venues separate already - via a council or private organics service - and the direction of travel is clear, so it is worth getting your liner choice right now.
Where can I buy compliant compostable caddy liners in bulk?
DPack stocks an AS 4736-certified, plant-based 8L compostable caddy liner at $4.20 ex GST per sleeve of 25 bags (about $0.17 a bag), sold by the carton for Melbourne venues. Free delivery applies on orders over $150 ex GST across Melbourne metro, with same-day dispatch on orders placed before 2PM.
Nitrile vs Latex vs Vinyl Gloves for Food Handling: Which Material Should Your Kitchen Use?
Nitrile, vinyl, latex or poly - the glove material you choose changes how safe, comfortable and cost-effective your kitchen runs. Here is...
FSC, PLA and Compostable Certifications Explained for Australian Businesses
What FSC, PLA, AS 4736 and the seedling logo actually mean on packaging cartons - and the greenwashing red flags Australian trade...
Wholesale Disposable Tableware: A Buying Guide for Caterers and Event Venues
Stocking tableware for a function in carton quantities requires more than adding to cart - this guide covers quantity calculation, plate sizing,...