Operators Share Simple Advice for Australian Hospitality Ahead of FOGO

With around 7.6 million tonnes of food wasted annually (over 300kg per person), food waste costs Australia $36.6 billion every year. Hospitality is responsible for 16% of this waste, according to a 2021 report by FIAL. The same report reflects the monetary value of this food waste as $6.4 billion — highlighting an incredible opportunity for the sector to reduce unnecessary costs. 

“Australia is still in a transition phase when it comes to food waste,” says Julian Cincotta, COO and Executive Chef at Sydney's Butter and a founding member of HospoDECLARE. "For a long time, most hospitality food waste went to landfill simply because it was the easiest option operationally. Food waste makes up roughly 40–50% of hospitality landfill bins, and the environmental impact is significant.”

However, Julian sees awareness growing quickly. “Venues are starting to realise that separating food waste is not complicated and often saves money once systems are in place. Reducing food waste is actually one of the easiest sustainability wins for hospitality — it lowers costs, reduces emissions and improves operational efficiency, all at the same time.” 

In 2017, Australia committed to halving food waste by 2030. As that date draws close, more state-level mandates (like the new FOGO legislation in New South Wales) are coming into effect, designed to help the country achieve its national target. The FOGO legislation is destined to be rolled out across the nation by 2030. 

In this article, we explore what FOGO and similar legislative requirements will mean for restaurants and other foodservice operations, and speak to some of the Australian businesses in our network to find out how they’re already tackling waste reduction. It's been a full year since similar legislation was introduced in the UK, so we also asked one of our UK businesses to share how this has played out and to offer their advice to Australian businesses getting started on this journey. 

What does Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) mean for restaurants? 

Food waste is the single biggest material going to landfill from businesses in New South Wales, with the state generating about 1.7 million tonnes of food waste each year. To tackle this, NSW is bringing in mandatory food waste separation for businesses that handle food. In NSW, Food Organics and Garden Organics legislation (FOGO) will come into effect from July 2026, and businesses will need to separate food waste for collection, review their waste streams and get set up with a provider who can handle organic waste properly.  

The implementation of this law is in phases, structured to impact the biggest generators of waste first.  

Not only will businesses save money by reducing waste, they'll also be avoiding some hefty new fines. Local councils will be enforcing for hospitality venues, and the penalties for non-compliance are up to $500,000, with an additional $50,000 per day for continuing offences. On-the-spot fines can be up to $5,000.  

Julian's biggest advice is that venues don’t need to wait for regulation to start; for businesses anywhere — not just in NSW — there are genuine financial savings to be made. “In many venues, 30–50% of general waste is food, which means separating it can significantly reduce landfill collections and costs,” he says. “Once operators realise separating food waste is simple and can reduce landfill costs, adoption tends to happen quickly." He's already seeing change in hospitality operations: things like separating food waste from general waste, tracking waste through bin audits and adopting more circular tactics like using trim, secondary cuts and surplus ingredients. “I’m also seeing more industry collaboration, where venues share ideas and systems that work." Finding the space for waste streams is often the hardest part for venues, says Julian, but working together can provide the solution. “For example, the Hollywood Hotel only generates 5kg of waste a week and very easily uses our organic stream. We would like to see other venues without space using neighbours' organic bins and splitting the cost.”

Implementing simple systems can make a big difference. "Through HospoDECLARE, we encourage venues to start with the basics; the solutions that work are the ones that are practical in a busy kitchen,” he says. “In Butter and across the Hollywood Quarter precinct, we’ve seen that once a simple system is in place, staff adapt quickly and the process becomes part of daily operations.” His advice is:  

Insights from New South Wales 

Amelia Birch is the owner and sommelier at Famelia, a wine bar and bottle shop specialising in wines made by women, located in Newtown, New South Wales. Her team already separates food waste from plastics, cardboard, cans and bottles. Since wine deliveries mean a lot of cardboard, Famelia has a dedicated cardboard recycling bin. “For bottles, we have a glass crusher, which is amazing because it reduces the volume required for storage. A specialist company collects it, and we’re subsidised for each bin we produce,” she says. 

Amelia has particular advice for reducing food waste. “If I were speaking to another restaurant, I’d say the starting point is being conscious of wastage. Food costs are high, and many cuisines already operate with this mindset. We do a lot of whole-ingredient use. We make our own ginger beer and mother, which we use as a base for our non-alcoholic wines, and we pickle mushrooms and vegetables. Anything left over from the food space often becomes an ingredient for cocktails or the bar. It’s all cross-used. If lemon skins are used for a martini, the lemons are squeezed for dishes or prep.” 

Famelia has one person responsible for a weekly stock-take and order — something Amelia points to as useful for preventing waste through spoilage. “When that responsibility is split, over-ordering becomes very easy. Ordering enough, but not too much, is key. I’d also think carefully about ingredients with very short shelf lives, as these can contribute significantly to food waste.” 

Simpler Recycling: One year on 

In England, the Simpler Recycling regulation came into effect from the end of March 2025, making it a legal requirement for non-household municipal premises to separate waste into four clearly defined streams. Businesses and relevant non-domestic premises in England needed to arrange for the collection of the core recyclable waste streams.  

For hospitality, the biggest change was the requirement to separate food waste from general waste; all food waste now needs to be collected and stored separately, including both prep and plate waste. With a full year passed since Simpler Recycling was introduced, we asked Petra Sulcova, Head of Sustainability at independent hospitality group Artfarm, to share how this has affected operations — and what businesses in Australia should expect. 

“Most of our restaurants had already been segregating waste for years, so the legislation only confirmed that we are doing the right thing,” says Petra. “Where we did not segregate as well as we could, it was mainly because there was very limited space to do so. This legislation prompted us to get creative to find space and to imagine different bin solutions and introduce better recycling systems.” 

She offers some advice for Australian businesses getting to grips with FOGO requirements. 

Overall, Petra says, patience and providing the right information are the keys to success. “It took us a while to change the culture and overcome challenges. Don’t assume that people know what goes into recycling bin or food bin; people often want to do the right thing and make decisions based on what they think it is right, but they end up contaminating their bins. Take blue roll as an example – some people put it into recycling because it is paper, or in the food bin because some think it will biodegrade, when it should go in general waste. It’s the same with other materials: even if they are marketed as biodegradable or compostable, that does not mean the industrial composter or incinerator will process them. You need to be checking with your provider.” 

What other environmental legislation is on the horizon for Australia? 

This is likely just the beginning of a general tightening of environmental legislation across Australia; for example, each state is banning different plastic items on different timelines, with more items being added every year. Australia’s government is working to combine legislation into a national roadmap. 

Julian believes that food waste separation will likely become standard practice across Australia, similar to how recycling did over time. “Hospitality is very capable of adapting — chefs already understand the value of reducing waste because it improves kitchen efficiency and reduces costs,” he says, “but the system also relies on trust across the whole supply chain. Venues can do the right thing by separating food waste properly, but we also need confidence that the waste processors and suppliers upstream are actually handling those streams correctly. If the infrastructure isn’t working beyond the venue, the system breaks down. What’s important is that this transition is collaborative. Governments, waste providers, suppliers and hospitality businesses all need to work together to make the systems simple and accessible.” 

Businesses across Australia can now sign up to assess their sustainability and celebrate their progress with the Food Made Good Standard, the global certification designed for the hospitality sector. The Standard provides an accurate snapshot of your sustainability and a tailored roadmap for further improvement, as well as a great way of communicating your hard work without the risk of greenwashing. 

Interested in joining this global movement? You can learn more about the Food Made Good Standard here and find our FAQs here. If you’re interested in how the Standard can help your business, drop Karen a line at karen@thesra.org. 

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Lead image courtesy of Famelia.