Put Your Bins Out The Right Way
To ensure that your bin is emptied place it out the night before your scheduled collection. You also need to position your bins correctly to ensure easy access for the collection vehicle.
The below diagrams show bin placement for detached houses, townhouses and rural properties. If you live in a unit and share bins, these bins will be collected and emptied by the contractor from the bin storage area.
Get It Right On Bin Night
Check your calendar, sticker or inside of the bin to find out what goes in each bin. Contaminated bins will not be emptied and will be reported to Council.
Waste collection trucks are fitted with GPS and cameras and if issues occur with a collection this will be reported to Council.
- Place bins near the kerb with the wheels towards the house.
- Leave about 50cm between your bins when you place more than one at the kerb.
- To avoid spillage, please ensure that your bin is not over full and that the lid is properly closed. Bins may not be collected if overfull
- Avoid placing bins where trees, poles or parked cars could obstruct collection. Bins will not be collected if obstructed
- Please do not place your bins on the road or gutter as this makes them prone to damage and a hazard to vehicles.
- If you live on a rural property, please leave the bins by the roadside or where the contractor has indicated is the best position for collection.
- Loose rubbish will not be collected.
- Please return your bins to your property as soon as possible following collection to avoid them being stolen or damaged as costs apply for replacement bins.
There has been a lot of talk recently about what can and can't go into your yellow recycling bin. The important thing to remember is to continue recycling and to have no contamination in your yellow bin.
Follow the six Recycle Right messages below for using your yellow lid recycling bin:
- Keep it Simple: Only recycle paper and cardboard, steel and aluminium cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles and containers.
- Keep out Soft Plastics: This includes all plastic bags, even if they have a recycling symbol, are degradable or compostable, and other soft plastics including cling wrap, chip packets and bread bags.
- Keep out Small Items: Any items smaller than a credit card. All plastic lids now need to be removed from bottles and those smaller than a credit card put in your landfill bin.
- Keep it Safe: Keep out strapping, hose, netting, wires, building materials and other hazardous materials.
- Keep it Clean: wipe or rinse any excess food and drink from all bottles, containers and tins before placing them in your recycling bin. Keep out food scraps, nappies and soiled paper
- Keep it Loose: put each item into your yellow recycling bin separately, don’t bag, box or contain your recyclable items.
All general waste that can't go into your yellow or green bin can go into your red bin. You can put the following in your red bin:
- Disposable nappies and incontinence aids
- Tissues
- Glass, Pyrex and ceramics (broken or whole)
- Disposable cups, plates and cutlery
- Garden hoses and rope
- Glad wrap and plastic films
- Soft plastics that are unable to be cleaned for soft plastic recycling
- Styrofoam or polystyrene
- Textiles and shoes beyond reuse or repair
What you can't put in your red bin
- Household batteries, smoke detectors, fluorescent globes and tubes, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, motor and cooking oils, paint - drop for free at the Community Recycling Centre
- E-waste
- Car parts
- Building waste, rocks, soil
- Flammable chemicals
Food waste and garden waste can be put in your Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) green-lidded bins.
Items that are acceptable include:
- Council-supplied AS4736 certified compostable liners
- Egg shells, milk and cheese
- Take-away food and leftovers
- Meat, bones and seafood scraps (including oyster shells)
- Vegetable and fruit scraps
- Tea leaves and coffee grounds
- Bread, pastries, flours (including rice)
- Grass clippings, leaves, sticks, prunings and small branches.
As our recycling goes to the ACT you can visit the ACT A-Z of recycling which gives advice on how to dispose of other items. You can also check if you are unsure whether you can place an item into the yellow recycling bin.
Visit the A-Z of recycling here.
Batteries can't go in any of your kerbside bins and must be taken to an accredited drop-off point.
You can take your batteries to:
- Braidwood Waste Transfer Station at 117 Bombay Road
- Bungendore Waste Transfer Station at 210 Tarago Road
- Queanbeyan Waste Minimisation Centre at 5 Lorn Road
You can also drop-off batteries at many supermarkets, hardware and electronics stores. Find your nearest drop-off point with B Cycle.