Recycling bin inspection and education program
Council has launched a new program to educate residents about what to put in their recycling bin, and to reduce the amount of items in recycling bins that can't be recycled (contaminants).
Between September and December, Council is checking the contents of people's recycling bins to reduce contamination in kerbside recycling.
Recycling bin warnings and rejections
If your recycling bin has items that can't be recycled, then you will receive:
- either: a warning card from Council, a contamination sticker on your bin and an updated recycling sticker for your recycling bin lid, and your recycling bin will be collected.
- or: a rejection card from Council, a contamination sticker on your bin and an updated recycling sticker for your recycling bin lid and your recycling bin will not be collected. When you remove the contaminants from the bin, you can call Council to arrange for your bin to be collected.
On the first day of inspections, 206 bins were checked resulting in 43 warnings and 26 rejections given for contaminated recycling bins.
Why is Council doing this?
Council is undertaking this inspection program to reduce contamination in recycling bins.
Contamination of recycling
- causes health and safety concerns at the recycling centre
- makes the cost of the service more expensive
- slows down the recycling process and
- can lead to entire truck loads of recyclables being sent to landfill.
Items that cannot be recycled
Many recycling bins are contaminated with items such as:
- bagged waste
- expanded polystyrene
- film and packaging
- soiled paper
- shoes
- food
- nappies
- toys
- paint
- electronics
- saucepans
- wood, and
- doormats.
Plastic bags cannot be recycled through the kerbside collection service.
Things inside plastic bags also cannot be recycled.
