Keep it loose – don't bag your recycling
Learn why it’s important to keep your recycling loose when it goes in your yellow lid bin.
Knowing what items can go in your yellow lid bin will help make sure we’re recycling as much as we can and recycling correctly.
Recycling helps reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill which is good for the environment and your community. It also creates jobs and contributes to economic growth.
Let’s get our recycling sorted Queensland.
Learn why it’s important to keep your recycling loose when it goes in your yellow lid bin.
Let's get hard plastics recycling sorted. Put items like milk bottles and yoghurt tubs in your yellow lid bin.
Metals like aerosols, aluminium foil and food tins go in your yellow lid bin.
Make bin day effortless and keep recyclables in a separate basket.
Get your glass recycling sorted and learn more about the items can go in your yellow lid bin.
Make bin day a breeze and get your paper and cardboard sorted.
The 5 materials you can recycle in your yellow lid bin.
Facts about recycling and the recycling process.
Links to more information about recycling and waste reduction.
Be like David ⭐ He knows to keep his recycling loose when it goes in the yellow lid bin.
Meet these game playing housemates. David's the reigning champ. Just like his twisting game, David keeps his recycling loose. All items go straight into the yellow lid bin. Good job David. Let's get it sorted.
It’s important to keep your recycling loose and not put it in a bag when it goes into your yellow lid bin.
These are the reasons why.
Keep it loose, and not in a bag. Let’s get it sorted.
Let's get your hard plastics sorted ✅ Put milk bottles and yoghurt tubs in your yellow lid bin to be recycled.
Meet Michael and his son Jeremy Williams. They’re on the bulk. So far this week they’ve used six litres of milk and a whole tub of ice cream. They’re huge and huge on recycling hard plastics. Let’s get it sorted.
Hard plastics can be recycled into new products, such as garden furniture, piping, and decking.
Many items are recyclable but not all of them belong in the yellow lid bin. Check with your local council or visit Recycle Mate to find an alternative location for recyclables that don’t belong in your kerbside yellow lid bin.
Let’s get it sorted.
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
* Remember eligible containers can be returned to Containers for Change for a 10 cent refund.
Jeremy aces recycling around the home 👏 He puts metals like aerosols, aluminium foil and food tins in the yellow lid bin.
Meet the Williams family. They are mighty messy eaters. They keep the stain remover right there on the table. And they’re efficient with recycling too putting their aerosol cans, food tins and aluminium foil into the yellow lid bin. Let’s get it sorted.
Recycling aluminium and steel saves resources and uses less energy than producing these metals from raw materials. Aluminium can be recycled over and over again without losing its quality.
Many items are recyclable but not all of them belong in the yellowlid bin. Check with your local council or visit Recycle Mate to find an alternative location for recyclables that don’t belong in your kerbside yellow lid bin.
Let’s get it sorted.
Some of the common metal household items you can put in your yellow lid bin are:
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
*Remember that eligible containers can be returned to Containers for Change for a 10 cent refund.
Streamline bin day like Sarah and her crew! ♻️ Keep your recycling separate for a smooth process. Let's make recycling a breeze! 🟡🌿
Meet housemates Sarah, Valentina, David and Will. They play netball and practice by sorting their recycling into a separate basket which helps them score at netball and recycling. Good job team. Let's get it sorted.
You could have a separate basket or bin in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry and once the items are empty or used, it’s effortless to sort them and make sure they’ll be placed in your yellow lid bin.
Using a separate container also makes it easy to keep your recycling loose. Remember not to put your recycling in a bag when it goes in your yellow lid bin.
Let’s get it sorted.
Meet Tyler. Tyler counts his macros. But on his birthday his only wish is for pizza. Tyler recycles the pizza boxes and wrapping paper in his yellow lid bin. Good job, Tyler. Let's get it sorted.
Every year, over 300,000 tonnes of paper and packaging is sent to recyclers to be turned into new products such as toilet rolls, egg cartons and packaging.
Remember to keep your recycling loose and not in a bag when you put it in the yellow lid bin. Placing recyclable items in paper bags can affect how the items are sorted and processed at material recovery facilities.
Many items are recyclable but not all of them belong in the yellow lid bin. Check with your local council or visit Recycle Mate to find an alternative location for recyclables that don’t belong in your kerbside yellow lid bin.
Let’s get it sorted.
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
* Remember eligible containers can be returned to Containers for Change for a 10 cent refund.
Meet Narfis. He's cooking for his grateful but nervous mates. He might not get the recipes right, but he puts all the glass bottles and jars in the yellow lid bin. Good job, Narfis. Let's get it sorted.
Glass bottles and jars can be recycled again and again without losing quality, making it a highly sustainable material.
Many items are recyclable but not all of them belong in the yellow lid bin. Check with your council or visit Recycle Mate to find an alternative location for recyclables that don’t belong in your kerbside yellow lid bin.
Let’s get it sorted.
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
* Remember that eligible drink containers can be returned to Containers for Change for a 10 cent refund.
Many items are recyclable but not all of them belong in the yellow lid bin. Most bottles, jars and containers, hard plastics and paper and cardboard do belong. For all other items check with your council or visit Recycle Mate to find an alternative location for recyclables, that don’t belong in your kerbside yellow lid bin.
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
Do go in your yellow lid bin
Don’t go in your yellow lid bin
* Remember that eligible drink containers can be returned to Containers for Change for a 10 cent refund.
Recycling plays a vital role in reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill in Queensland. Learn more about why it’s important and how it works with these facts and myth busters.
The recycling industry in Australia relies on material in our household yellow lid bin to operate.
In most cases, sending household recyclables to landfill is more expensive for collection companies than recycling.
Here is a simple explanation of what happens when you put items in your yellow lid bin:
Depending on the service provided and the MRF accepting the material, some councils may not accept certain materials. For example, some councils may only accept paper and cardboard while others accept a larger range of recyclable items.
There are 77 councils in Queensland, and each has its own policies and infrastructure. This means each council is responsible for what materials are accepted for recycling, how they can be sorted, and how they are collected and processed.
Be sure to check your council's recycling guidelines or check out Recycle Mate for localised information to recycle more items more often.
Contamination occurs when items that can’t be recycled end up in the yellow lid bin. Even low levels of contamination can create issues with processing and too much of the wrong waste could mean it is sent to landfill.
Items that end up in the wrong bin don’t just cause contamination. If recyclable items go into the general waste bin, they end up in landfill instead of getting a valuable second life.
Also be aware of ‘wishcycling’. This is when items are placed in the yellow lid bin hoping they belong there. While this optimism is well-intentioned, it’s also a big contributor to contamination. If you are not sure, it’s best to check the Recycle Mate app. You can enter your location as well as the items you’re unsure about, and the website will let you know which bin to use.
The more we recycle, the more value we’ll get from materials and products that are already in use. This means using less raw materials to make everyday products.
Keeping materials out of Iandfill helps to protect our natural environment by eliminating waste and pollution and helping to tackle global challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss.
The recycling industry also creates thousands of jobs, improves local services in our communities and supports businesses, community groups, schools and local governments to consider waste avoidance and reduction initiatives.
Every time you choose to place a recyclable item in the yellow-lid bin instead of the general waste bin, you’re contributing to Queensland’s vision to become a zero-waste society where waste is avoided, and materials are reused to the greatest possible extent.
On average, around 80% of recovered materials are recycled right here in Queensland every year (Recycling and waste in Queensland report). It’s true that some materials are sent overseas for processing as we don’t have the processing capacity in Queensland or in Australia.
Through the Recycling and Jobs Fund, the Queensland Government is supporting the sustainable growth of the recycling industry to recover and recycle even more valuable resources into the future.
For more information about recycling and waste reduction:
Recycling Qld – let’s get it sorted, 17 Jul 2024, [https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/circular-economy-waste-reduction/recycling]
This document is uncontrolled when printed. Before using the information in this document you should verify the current content on https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/circular-economy-waste-reduction/recycling.
