New Garden Organic Service

Please ask a neighbour or a friend to assist you in securing your GO bin inside your property boundary.

You can begin to use your new GO bin as soon as it is delivered. 

Please note that servicing of the GO bin will commence from 30 June, on the opposite week to your recycling bin collection, and no collections will occur prior to the service commencing on 30 June 2026.

No, green waste brought to a waste facility for disposal will attract the standard green waste fees and charges that contribute to the management and processing of this material.

This commonly happens during distributions. 

Please leave the GO bin in the sun for a couple of days, and it will be fine.

Please contact Council for this issue to be reported. 

You may be asked to leave the bin in an accessible position near the front of your property while the issue is rectified.

Houses that meet the eligibility criteria are receiving GO bins as part of the rollout. 

You can check if your property is eligible using the online bin collection day feature. Enter your street address and check the Waste Collection information section. 

If your property is eligible, and you haven't received a new GO bin, please contact Council to report the issue.

The new GO service has been designed for efficiency at the appropriate scale and requires the current participation from all eligible households. 

No opt-out is possible and is being applied to GO in the same way to existing waste services. 

This is in consideration of the broader community outcomes required for the long-term planning and future needs for waste management in the Gladstone region. 

For eligible households, a general (red), recycling (yellow) and garden organics (green) bin is now the standard waste service provided to your property.

GO stands for Garden Organics material. GO bins are designed for your garden waste and are provided to remove this from general and recycling bins. This organic waste will be collected fortnightly and then processed into a suitable product. This allows for nutrients to be returned to the environment in parks, gardens and farms.

Council is committed to rolling out the new service from 30 June 2026 to eligible properties that meet service criteria. Upon delivery, eligible properties will receive an information pack to inform them about the GO bin.

For eligible vacant land within the GO service locality, a future GO service will commence upon construction of a domestic residence.

A GO service would cease where a domestic residence is demolished on a property with Council approval.

• Reduce landfill - by separating garden waste, more organic material can be diverted for re-use rather than ending up in landfill. This is important for our region, as recovering resources from going to landfill supports the beneficial re-use of materials and also avoids the loss of landfill space, as the risks and costs of sending waste to landfill continue to increase over time.
• Reduce costs - diverting organics effectively reduces costs associated with landfill disposal fees and the Queensland Waste Levy. Managing these costs helps to keep waste charges lower over time as the waste levy and the costs to build and operate new landfill areas increase over the long term. Find out more about the Queensland Waste Levy.
• Environmental benefits - reusing organic waste reduces emissions and returns nutrients to the soil through compost and mulch. Diverting waste from going to landfill also assists in reducing the environmental risk associated with operating and building new landfills into the future.

• Barney Point
• Boyne Island
• Calliope
• Clinton
• Gladstone Central
• Glen Eden
• Kin Kora
• Kirkwood
• New Auckland
• O’Connell
• South Gladstone
• Sun Valley
• Tannum Sands
• Telina
• Toolooa
• West Gladstone.

The new Garden Organics (GO) service will start on 30 June 2026 in the higher-density areas of our region.  This helps us to ensure the collection routes, processing activities, and service costs are well established before expanding further.

Localities that aren’t listed are not part of the initial rollout and GO collection vehicles will not be servicing these areas. In the future, these areas will be considered for inclusion to grow the service via a service request, community consultation, community forums. When that happens, the GO service will be mandatory for properties that meet the service criteria in the expanded localities - just like in the initial rollout.

Council is committed to engaging with communities about future expansion. Resident feedback will help guide decisions as Council continues to plan and assess the growth and expansion of the GO service beyond 30 June 2026. 

The following domestic property types located within the identified suburbs will receive the GO service: 

• Standalone houses (single-unit dwellings)
• Properties up to (and including) a maximum size of 2000 m².

The following domestic property types are not currently included to receive the GO service: 

• Multi-use dwellings (units, apartments, townhouses, duplexes)
• Rural and rural residential zoned properties.

The Garden Organics service will cost around $3.60 per fortnight. This will be included in the Waste Bin Charge on the property owner’s rates notice once the 2026/27 Council budget is adopted. 

The cost of the service provides for the collection, transport and processing of the garden organic material into mulch that is provided back to the community for use. 

The introduction of the GO service supports more sustainable waste management for the region. 

The service will be offered on a fortnightly basis. Collection days will be fortnightly on the opposite week to the recycling bin collection. Please make sure your bins are correctly placed on the kerbside and spaced 1 metre apart.

A 240L bin with a lime green lid.

Yes, domestic properties not meeting GO service conditions may apply to opt-in if:

• Located in a GO service locality; and
• A GO collection vehicle passes the property.

Once approved, you cannot opt out.

Opt-in allows multi-unit dwellings, properties over 2000m² in size and rural and rural residential zoned properties to apply and be included in the GO service following service commencement from 30 June 2026.

Council acknowledges that there may be residents in GO service localities who do not meet eligibility criteria and who want to participate in the new service. 

It is anticipated that a program for Opt-In services will commence within 12 months of GO service commencement for current GO localities, with Opt-In services not available at the commencement of the GO service from 30 June. New services will only apply to newly built properties that meet the eligibility criteria, as their new standard waste service offering. 

This approach allows Council to implement and embed the service and prepare for further growth, with consideration of new service localities and associated engagement to occur over future years. 

Yes. Eligible GO properties may request an additional GO bin. 

An additional GO bin is expected to cost the same as the standard service cost, at around $3.60 per fortnight. 

It is anticipated that requests for additional GO bins will commence within 12 months of GO service commencement. This approach allows Council to implement and embed the service and prepare for further growth. 

No. Properties located in the suburbs to receive the new GO service and that meet GO service conditions will receive the GO service from 30 June 2026. 

For eligible properties, a general, recycling and garden organics service now represents the standard waste service provided to support diversion of waste from landfill and in support of the region's waste objectives. Utilisation of bins may vary between properties and will not result in the removal of a service. 

Council does not make service decisions on a household-by-household basis. To ensure that the new GO service achieves diversion and recovery outcomes, along with a reduction in the impact of the State Waste Levy on the community, the service must operate in a consistent and financially sustainable way at a whole-of-community level. To achieve this, the GO service has been designed for efficiency at the appropriate scale and requires the current participation from all eligible households. Allowing individual households to opt out would make it significantly more difficult to deliver waste services, ensure manageable service costs, and to achieve diversion, recovery, and Waste Levy benefits.

These are the same considerations that will be applied for the growth and further rollout of the GO service within the region.

No opt-out is being applied to GO in the same way to existing waste services. This is in consideration of the broader community outcomes required for the long-term planning and future needs for waste management in the Gladstone region.

This would be subject to review of service criteria and subsequent decision by Council. Incorporating opt-out criteria is not planned at this stage of implementation for the new GO service.

• Flowers
• Garden pruning  
• Grass clippings  
• Leaves and loose bark 
• Shrubs  
• Garden weeds. 

• Compostable items like paper plates, wooden spoons, coffee cups and lids 
• Doggy and poo bags 
• Fruit or food scraps 
• Garden accessories like pots, ropes, and garden hoses.
• General waste 
• General waste items that belong in your red bin 
• Large logs, branches and stumps – these make the bin too heavy to service 
• Plastic bags  
• Recyclable items like e-waste or clothing that can be taken to your closest transfer station 
• Recyclable items that belong in your yellow lid bin 
• Stones, concrete or masonry.

If you put items in your GO bin that aren’t approved garden organic waste, this is called contamination, and your GO bin won’t be collected.  

Ongoing contamination may lead to potential compliance penalties if the contamination continues. 

Keeping the GO bin free of contamination helps produce safe, usable mulch instead of material being sent to landfill. 

The new GO service will not replace the existing kerbside collection services.

Residents should continue using the recycling bin as usual by separating recyclable materials from general waste.  The GO service is specifically designed to collect organic garden waste and increase resource recovery.

Businesses and commercial properties play an important part in recovering organic materials and Council is considering how they can be included in the future expansion of the GO service. 

Yes, special GO bin trucks will collect your garden organic waste and deliver to the dedicated resource recovery area to be processed into a suitable reusable product.

If your household generates more garden organics, options may include: 

• Applying for an additional GO bin 
• Taking your additional garden organics to a Council waste facility
• Acquiring the services of a local green organics collector.  

Maintaining your property with a fortnightly GO service may require some changes to how you undertake this work, to fully maximise the GO service. Where possible, substituting infrequent and large yard clean ups, to smaller more regular activities may assist in getting the most out of your new GO service. 

Sort your GO bin right by making a green GO bin lasagne.  

Ingredients: 

Dry garden organic material 

Wet garden organic material 

Method:  

1. Place dry ingredients like twigs and small branches on the base.  

2. Place your grass clippings over as these tend to be wet. 

3. Cover with dry garden materials. 

4. Make sure the lid closes and nothing is poking out.  

NOTE: materials must be placed loose in the bin and NOT in plastic bags or boxes.