Do you know if you're using your Glen Eira bins properly? Your first options should be to avoid, reduce and reuse, but if you have to throw something away, here's a guide to help you.
What goes in my bins?
Green food and garden waste bin
The green bin is collected weekly
Your green bin is the best place for all your garden waste and food scraps.
But don’t forget! Make sure to leave plastic, compostable and bio-degradable bin liners out of the green bin, as these end up in landfill. Wrap food scraps in paper towel or newspaper instead. You can also put food scraps inside small paper bags or use a paper kitchen caddy liner.
| ✔ Yes | ✖ No |
| ✔ Fruit and vegetable scraps | ✖ Plastic bags (including biodegradable or compostable bags) |
| ✔ Garden waste (grass, leaves, weeds, sticks, flowers) | ✖ Packaging of any kind (including biodegradable or compostable) |
| ✔ Egg shells | ✖ Cigarette butts |
| ✔ Dairy leftovers | ✖ Nappies and baby wipes |
| ✔ Coffee grounds and loose leaf tea | ✖ Tea bags or coffee pods Coffee cups (including biodegradable or compostable) |
| ✔ Bread, pasta, cereal and rice | ✖ Kitty litter (including biodegradable) |
| ✔ Meat scraps and bones | ✖ Dishcloths |
| ✔ Used paper towel, newspaper and napkins | ✖ Dog or cat droppings |
| ✔ Tissues (provided you are not in self-isolation and have not been in contact with a confirmed COVID-19 case) | ✖ Ash and tree stumps |
| ✔ Seafood including shells | ✖ Soil and sand |
| ✔ Paper kitchen caddy liners | ✖ Vacuum dust |
| ✔ Small paper bags such as brown paper lunch bags or mushroom produce bag (no waxy or plastic coating, no handles or no larger than a kitchen caddy) | ✖ Hair and feathers (including pet hair) |
| ✖ Paper plates | |
| ✖ Plastic cutlery and plates (including biodegradable or compostable) | |
| ✖ Napkins or serviettes that have been printed on or heavily dyed (eg. black napkins) | |
| ✖ Wooden icy pole sticks | |
| ✖ Large paper bags with handles such as supermarket shopping bags or food delivery service bags |
Yellow recycling bin
The yellow recycling bin is collected every second week
Your yellow bin is for your recyclables including glass, metal, paper and some plastics. Make sure to empty plastic containers of any food, and take the lids off glass jars or plastic bottles before putting them into the yellow bin. Plastic lids go in the red bin.
| ✔ Yes | ✖ No |
| ✔ Office paper and cardboard (not shredded paper) | ✖ Aerosol cans |
| ✔ Newspapers and magazines | ✖ Plastic bags Soft plastics (anything that is plastic and can be scrunched into a ball eg. bread bags, cling film, pasta bags) |
| ✔ Clean pizza boxes | ✖ Polystyrene |
| ✔ Fresh milk or juice cartons (not Tetra Pak) | ✖ Ceramics |
| ✔ Empty plastic takeaway food containers | ✖ Batteries |
| ✔ Plastic bottles (bottle only, lids go in the red bin) | ✖ Plastic cutlery |
| ✔ Detergent bottles (bottle only, lids go in the red bin) | ✖ Garden waste |
| ✔ Empty plastic tubs (eg. yoghurt tubs, ice cream containers) | ✖ Food waste |
| ✔ Plastic meat trays | ✖ Clothes or fabric |
| ✔ Plastic plant pots (less than 10cm in diameter) | ✖ Chemicals Hazardous waste |
| ✔ Plastic fruit punnets and biscuit trays | ✖ Light globes |
| ✔ Aluminium trays and foil (clean and scrunched) | ✖ Electronics |
| ✔ Aluminium and steel cans | ✖ Gas cylinders or canisters |
| ✔ Glass jars and bottles (separate glass from metal lids and place both in the yellow bin) | ✖ Shredded paper or newspaper |
| ✔ Envelopes (including with plastic windows) | ✖ Tetra Pak (long life milk) cartons |
Red general waste bin
The red waste bin is collected every second week
As well as green waste and recycling, there are other items that cannot go in the red bin, like hazardous and electronic waste. Use our online A-Z Rubbish and Recycling Guide to help find the best place for your waste.
| ✔ Yes | ✖ No |
| ✔ Household rubbish (non-recyclable) | ✖ Recycling |
| ✔ Ceramics, crockery and glassware | ✖ Garden waste |
| ✔ Plastic bags | ✖ Soil or ash |
| ✔ Plastic wrap and cling wrap | ✖ Building materials |
| ✔ Polystyrene | ✖ Medical waste eg. syringes |
| ✔ Nappies (wrapped) | ✖ Electronic waste (batteries and electrical appliances) |
| ✔ Pet waste and kitty litter (wrapped) | |
| ✔ Shredded paper | |
| ✔ Baking paper | |
| ✔ Compostable packaging | |
| ✔ Coffee cups (including lids) | |
| ✔ Tea bags and coffee pods | |
| ✔ Long life cartons and tetra paks | |
| ✔ Disposable cutlery and plates (any material) | |
| ✔ Used paper towel and tissues (if you are in self-isolation, unwell, or have been in contact with someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19) |
