Will NSW’s 2026 FOGO Mandate Fix Food Waste at the University of Sydney?

Supporting Data:

According to relevant data, New South Wales wastes 1.7 million tons of food annually, primarily causing severe environmental impact. This is because food decomposition in landfills produces methane and releases nutrients that seep into the soil and waterways, causing pollution. The NSW government predicts that landfills in Greater Sydney will reach saturation by 2030, and space depletion will be a significant crisis. Therefore, new regulations regarding food organics and garden organics collection services will be implemented on July 1, 2026, for businesses and institutions, including schools. Specifically, institutions generating approximately 4,000 liters of general waste per week (about two bins’ capacity) must sort and recycle food waste to reduce landfill volume and emissions (New South Wales Environment Protection Authority [NSW EPA], 2025).

Figure 1. Food waste on the streets of Sydney.

Topic Background and Preliminary Observations:

I will write a news commentary to analyse the practical and detailed changes the University of Sydney will make in response to the new regulations released by the NSW Environment Protection Authority this year. Food waste has long been a common issue in Sydney, but the university has not yet released a unified plan to address it. The current management model still requires further optimisation and follow-up to ensure the new regulations achieve the desired governance effect after implementation. This situation reflects obvious management delays on the part of the university. Therefore, this commentary will call on the university to accelerate coordinated reforms to effectively connect environmental policies with campus practices.

Before developing this topic, I have conducted preliminary observations of the distribution and sorting status of rubbish bins at the University of Sydney. Although there are multiple recycling bins and a dedicated area for large waste bins on campus, waste is often not sorted by category. I have observed many students casually throwing rubbish into any bin, and large bags of unsorted waste inside the large bins. These observations confirm the authenticity and feasibility of this topic.

Figure 2. Waste sorting area on campus.

Figure 3. Waste that has not been properly sorted.

News Value and Publication Platform:

This story idea is highly newsworthy due to the timeliness of the new regulations. Once implemented, they are expected to reduce organic waste entering landfills by up to one million tons annually. The majority of this will be converted into high-quality compost, promoting soil health and sustainable food production.

Using universities as a starting point to advance this issue allows more students to focus on the importance of the landfill capacity crisis. Given that the target audience is undergraduate and graduate students, I intend to publish this public issue on The Conversation platform. This is because the platform’s target audience is primarily highly educated readers, including university students (The Conversation User Report, 2024).

Interviewee’s Plans:

Food waste accounts for a quarter of all commercial waste sent to landfills in New South Wales. Therefore, my primary interviewee will be staff member at the university dining hall.

Figure 4. University Dining Hall

To ensure accuracy, consistency, and comprehensiveness, my backup or second interviewees will be staff from the food trucks in the university.

Figure 5. Food Trucks

Preliminary Interview Questions:

1. Are you aware of the new food waste classification regulations taking effect in July?

2. Has the university issued implementation notices for mandatory FOGO recycling to campus dining halls or installed large green organic waste bins?

3. What are the specific implementation plans for campus environmental protection in the future?

4. How do you usually handle ingredients approaching their expiry date?

5. Based on your observations, does food waste by students occur frequently?

Multimedia and Interactive Elements:

At the bottom of the news commentary, I plan to create a multimedia-rich poll to enhance interactivity. Readers will be able to use colored icon buttons to indicate whether the new regulation will effectively improve food waste sorting on campus, thereby reducing pressure on landfills. This data will not only reveal reader opinions but also reflect the issue’s popularity based on poll participation.

This publication supports multiple platforms, including a social media version on Instagram. Readers can also participate in the poll on this online platform.

(All images are personally taken and do not involve copyright infringement issues.)

References

Love Food Hate Waste NSW. (n.d.). About food waste. https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au/about-food-waste

New South Wales Environment Protection Authority. (2025, September 17). NSW to step up food business recycling with new rules. https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/news/epamedia/250917-nsw-steps-up-food-business-recycling-with-new-rules

New South Wales Government. (2025, February 25). NSW Government taking action on waste crisis. https://www.nsw.gov.au/ministerial-releases/nsw-government-taking-action-on-waste-crisis

The Conversation. (n.d.). The Conversation Australia + New Zealand. https://theconversation.com/au