Sort your food waste – Paper liner trial

Man wearing a grey jumper and cardigan empties a black and green Darebin kitchen caddy into a green bin.

We’re launching a new trial to help make food waste recycling easier for our community.

Why this trial is needed

Household waste audits show that food waste still makes up around 40% of what goes into general waste bins. When food ends up in landfill, it produces high levels of methane – a potent greenhouse gas that significantly accelerates climate change – and increases landfill costs for the community.

We’ve heard from residents that separating food waste can be difficult without a liner for the kitchen caddy. To help address this, we’re partnering with a local Darebin business to trial paper caddy liners with 500 randomly selected households across the municipality.

This is no ordinary paper bag. These liners are:

  • designed to fit your kitchen caddy
  • made from 100% recycled paper – no new trees are cut down
  • manufactured locally in Melbourne by a Darebin-based business
  • approved by Veolia, our organics processing facility for use in their composting system.
Brown paper bag with food scraps alongside a black and green Darebin kitchen caddy

Image: The Good Sort paper caddy liner and Darebin Council kitchen caddy

What’s involved in the trial

  • 500 households across Darebin will be given 40 bags each to help sort their food waste.
  • A random sample of 125 households’ general waste and food and garden organics (green) bin will be audited to create baseline data about how food waste is being sorted. This will take place in early May.
  • After 3–4 months, a final audit of household bins will be done to identify any change in food sorting habits and improved recycling outcomes.
  • Throughout the trial, Veolia may conduct random tests of material potentially containing the bags to identify how the bags decompose and contribute to compost material.
  • The information gathered from the trial will help determine future options for supporting residents to recycle food waste more easily.

FAQs

How is this caddy liner different from a regular paper bag?

These liners are:

  • made from 100% recycled paper – no trees needed to be cut down to help you collect your food waste
  • manufactured locally in Melbourne by a Darebin-based business
  • designed to fit your caddy
  • approved by Veolia, who will test how they decompose and contribute to high-quality compost.

How were households selected for the trial?

Households were chosen to reflect the diversity of Darebin – covering a mix of suburbs across the municipality. Selection also aligned with existing waste truck routes to support potential analysis by Veolia.

Which households were not included in the trial?

Multi-unit dwellings with shared bins (such as apartments) were excluded because it is not possible to accurately measure change in individual household waste composition behaviour change in shared waste systems.

Can I take part in the trial if I’m not in a selected household?

No. Participants are selected at random so the trial results remain unbiased and representative of the broader community, rather than only those who are already interested.

What will happen after the trial?

We will collect de‑identified, aggregated data on: 

  • how the liners were used 
  • whether they helped divert more food waste from landfill
  • Veolia’s assessment of the liners’ long-term suitability.

This information will help determine future options for supporting residents to recycle food waste more easily.

Back to top