Management of food organics and garden organics (FOGO) has emerged as a critical policy priority due to methane emissions from landfilled organics in Australia. Here, the responsibility for organics recovery rests with state and local governments, resulting in fragmented implementation, differing regulatory settings, and variable landfill levy designs. This study examines the viability of FOGO systems by drawing on three Queensland regional case studies: Lockyer Valley, Rockhampton, and Bundaberg. The study uses qualitative document analysis and comparative case study methods, supported by systems mapping, to examine interactions between policy, governance, infrastructure, and community factors. Seven key domains were identified as being central to system performance: (1) government waste strategy, (2) waste regulation, (3) political acceptance, (4) collection systems, (5) cost and funding, (6) community acceptance, and (7) compost processing. Examining these components collectively demonstrated that effective FOGO delivery relies on their alignment, with each layer reinforcing or constraining the others. To highlight waste regulation tools, the study compared landfill levies as a central economic and governance instrument in two contrasting Australian jurisdictions. In Queensland, the levy operates primarily as a fiscal tool rather than as a behavioural driver, limiting councils’ ability to invest in new services. By contrast, New South Wales’s mandatory FOGO implementation and a more mature regulatory framework have driven widespread service rollout but have also revealed the complexities of enforcing a universal policy in diverse regional contexts. The paper offers new insights into the financial and governance dynamics shaping regional waste policy, demonstrating how whole-of-system coherence is essential for advancing circular economy transitions in dispersed local contexts.
Blanchard et al. (Tue,) studied this question.