By Ali · Updated July 2026
Australia has one of the highest pet ownership rates in the world, which means a nation quietly generating tonnes of dog poo and used litter every single day. The right bin is usually the boring one, but the details trip people up, especially the compostable bag question and the handful of councils that do things differently.
Bagged pet waste goes in the red lid general waste bin. That is the rule in the overwhelming majority of Australian councils, and it applies to dog poo, cat litter, rabbit and guinea pig bedding, bird cage liners and everything else your animals produce.
The reason is pathogens. Pet waste can carry bacteria and parasites that commercial composting facilities for kerbside organics are not universally set up to guarantee against, so most councils simply exclude it from the green bin. When a council does accept it, that is a deliberate decision based on their specific processing facility, which is why the rule genuinely varies and why your council website is the tiebreaker.
A minority of councils with hot composting facilities do accept pet waste in the FOGO bin, sometimes with conditions like paper bags only or loose waste wrapped in newspaper. If your council is one of them, it will say so explicitly on its A to Z of waste or FOGO page. Silence means no.
If you cannot find a clear yes on the council website, put pet waste in general waste. Wrongly adding it to a green bin can contaminate a whole load of organics, and contamination is the main reason councils send FOGO truckloads to landfill.
Compostable dog poo bags are better for the environment at production time, but they do not change which bin the contents go in. A compostable bag of dog poo in the general waste bin ends up in landfill along with everything else, and a compostable bag in the recycling bin is contamination twice over: wrong material and unspeakable contents.
Compostable bags only realise their benefit where the destination composts them: a council FOGO service that explicitly accepts pet waste in compostable bags, or your own pet waste composter at home. Otherwise an ordinary bag and the red bin achieve the same result.
All used kitty litter can go in general waste, bagged or wrapped so it does not dust the whole bin. Beyond that, the type matters only if you want to divert it.
Dedicated pet waste composters, from commercial in ground units to DIY buried bins, are a genuine diversion option for households with a garden. They work like a small septic system: waste breaks down below the surface, away from your regular compost.
Two rules keep it safe. Site the unit away from vegetable beds and waterways, and never put the output on anything you plan to eat. Composted pet waste is fine around ornamentals and trees, not around the tomatoes. Cat waste needs extra caution because of toxoplasmosis; pregnant women should not handle used litter or cat waste compost at all.
Only if your council explicitly says so, which is uncommon. Most Australian councils exclude pet waste from organics because of pathogens. If the council website does not clearly say yes, use the general waste bin.
No. The bag being compostable does not make the contents acceptable. Unless your council specifically accepts pet waste in FOGO, a compostable bag of dog poo still goes in general waste.
General waste, bagged or wrapped, regardless of litter type. Clay and crystal litters are landfill only everywhere. Plant based litters can only be composted where a council explicitly accepts pet waste, or in a home system kept away from food crops.
No for litter of any kind, which clogs pipes and treatment systems even when marketed as flushable. Dog poo flushing is discouraged by most Australian water utilities, and cat waste should never be flushed because treatment plants do not reliably remove toxoplasmosis.