What goes in each bin?

Getting the right thing in the right bin is critical to keeping our waste stream clean. Items in the yellow recycling bin that can't be recycled can mean a whole collection is contaminated. Putting something in the red landfill bin that could go into the recycling bin is creating landfill unnecessarily.

For a more comprehensive list of what can, and can't go in your red, yellow and green bins see below.

Red landfill bin

Your red landfill bin is collected weekly and is for general waste products and kitchen scraps. All waste in this bin goes to landfill.

General waste includes:

  • Food waste (if you do not have a home compost or worm farm)
  • Plastic bags and other non-recyclable plastics
  • Foam trays including meat trays
  • Pyrex, ceramics or pottery
  • Broken toys
  • Nappies
  • Clothes and rags
  • Plastic buckets
  • Any glass except bottles and jars (including plate glass, windows, mirrors, drinking glasses)
  • Takeaway coffee cups and lids

Yellow recycling bin

Your recycling bin is collected fortnightly and is for all recyclable items such as:

  • Paper and cardboard - newspapers, magazines, milk / juice cartons, egg cartons and cardboard boxes
  • Plastics - rigid plastic containers from your kitchen, bathroom and laundry (lids go in the red landfill bin)
  • Steel - food cans, empty aerosol cans, jar lids, coffee tins
  • Aluminium - soft drink / beer cans, clean foil, scrunch foil into a tennis ball size
  • Glass - bottles and jars only (all colours)

 

To ensure your recycling efforts don't go to waste, follow these simple guidelines:

Keep it simple - paper, cardboard, aluminium and steel cans, glass bottles and jars and rigid plastic can be recycled

Keep it clean - rinse containers before placing in the yellow recycling bin

Keep out small items - nothing smaller than a business card, including lids and never put batteries into the recycling

Keep it loose - don't put your recycling in the bin in bags or boxes

Keep out soft plastics - if you can scrunch your plastic into a ball easily it can't go in the yellow recycling bin

 

Green garden organics bin

If you have a green garden organics bin, it is collected fortnightly.

The following items can be placed in the garden organics waste bin:

  • Lawn / grass clippings
  • Prunings and branches
  • Leaves and weeds

The weight of bin cannot exceed 75 kilograms, so be mindful of this as some green waste can be heavy.

 

We also have a comprehensive listing of how to dispose of all types of waste using Recycle Mate. Type the name of any item and Recycle Mate will tell you how you can dispose of the item in the MidCoast. You can also use the Recycle Mate App and take a photo of an item to help you dispose of it.

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