We are working with you to reduce contamination found in yellow recycling bins and green food and garden waste bins.
Bin inspection program
One of the ways we are doing this is with a bin inspection program where yellow and green bins are checked on collection day.
The program helps us:
- reduce contamination
- minimise the amount of waste sent to landfill
- provide households with tailored education and support
- increase safety (ensuring hazardous materials stay out of recycling).
We understand that recycling and waste sorting can be tricky sometimes. With so many different types of items and materials going into our bins, we don’t always get it right. This program aims to help everyone learn about what belongs in our yellow and green bins — and what should be kept out — so we know for next time.
What’s involved?
Each household’s recycling and green waste bins are visually checked on collection day and households receive feedback through a bin tag.
A visual inspection means lifting the bin lid and looking at the contents inside the bin to see if the bin contains any contamination (non-accepted items).
Check the table below to see what your bin tag means:
| Tag type | What it means | Additional information |
| Green or yellow tag | Great work! No contamination was observed. | |
| Orange tag | Did you know? Some contamination was observed, please keep these items out of this bin next time. | Specific feedback will be provided on the tag. |
| Red tag | Oops! High contamination was observed, please keep these items out of this bin next time. | Specific feedback will be provided on the tag. |
| Red tag and sticker across the lid | Rejected bin — When contamination in the bin is very high, or where hazardous items are observed in the bin we will place a sticker across the bin lid, and a red bin tag. | The bin will not be collected and the residents will be required to remove the contamination or hazardous items and dispose of them correctly before contacting the Council to arrange a collection. |
Why do we want to reduce bin contamination?
Contamination is any item that doesn’t belong in the yellow recycling bin or green food and garden waste bin. Contaminated items are sent to landfill and can also cause acceptable items that can be recycled to be rejected and sent to landfill as well. Some contamination can put staff at risk of injury, or cause damage to equipment.
Some items may cause contamination in your green or yellow bins but can be recycled another way. Check our recycling A – Z to see if your item can be repurposed or recycled another way.
Using recycling and green waste bins correctly helps ensure accepted items can be sorted and recycled into new products or composted for use on farms and gardens.
Inspection Program Results
Over the two-year bin inspection program, we assessed the yellow and green bins of 55,070 households for contamination. Overall, we found our community to be recycling right in the yellow bin and using the green bin for food scraps.
With the variety of materials and items that we use at home, we know it can be hard to keep track of what goes in each bin. Our bin inspection program is one way we can check in on how our community is sorting waste and identify areas for more support.
Across all of Glen Eira, bins of each stream contained about 4% visible contamination on average.
If bins contained high levels of contamination (red tag), we provided tailored feedback and noted the address for a return visit.
On our first return visit to these addresses, about a third of the material in the yellow bins, and over two thirds of the material in the green bins, was considered contamination. With further feedback, this dropped dramatically. With our second and third return visits, we saw contamination drop to below a tenth. It was great to see the feedback adopted and the contamination reduced to such a degree.
|
|
First Return Visit |
Second Return Visit |
Third Return Visit |
|
Yellow Bin |
30.6% |
9.8% |
8.5% |
|
Green Bin |
72.5% |
12.5% |
9.6% |
The main contaminants in the yellow and green bins were:
Related resources
Unsure what is or isn’t accepted in your yellow or green bins?
Visit the following pages for detailed lists:
