Rubbish disposal and recycling in Australia: bins, tips and drop-off rules

Councils run kerbside services, so check your council's website. The common pattern, as used by state governments and large councils, is:

| Lid colour | Typical use | |---|---| | Red | General rubbish (landfill) | | Yellow | Mixed recycling – paper, cardboard, firm plastics, glass, metal containers | | Green / lime green | Garden organics, and food as well where a FOGO (food organics and garden organics) service exists | | Purple (Victoria) | Glass bottles and jars |

Victoria is standardising household services into four streams under the Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021: purple for glass, lime green for FOGO, yellow for mixed recycling and red for general rubbish. Councils decide bin sizes and collection frequency, and some provide a stream through a drop-off point instead of a kerbside bin.

New South Wales has legislated a FOGO mandate: according to the NSW EPA, councils must give every household that has a red-lid waste service a FOGO service by 1 July 2030. Only food, garden organics and certified compostable caddy liners (AS 4736) go in FOGO bins – not pet poo, paper towels, pizza boxes or "compostable" packaging.

Queensland example (Brisbane): yellow bin for paper, cardboard, firm plastics, glass and metal containers (loose, not bagged, lids on); red bin for general waste including soft plastics and, in Brisbane, food scraps; green bin for garden waste only. Other Queensland councils may differ.

Councils provide drop-off sites under many names: tip, dump, transfer station, resource recovery centre or waste management facility – Brisbane City Council notes its "resource recovery centres" used to be called transfer stations and are also known as "the tip".

Typically accepted: bulky items, recyclables, green waste and some hazardous household items. Rules on fees, residency proof and quantities are set by each council – there is no national rule.

Example – Brisbane City Council: residential quantities of recyclables are free at the undercover recycling area (vehicles under 4.5 t), including batteries, cardboard, cooking oil (up to 20 L), engine oil (up to 100 L, max. 20 L per container), fluoro tubes, e-waste (up to 15 items) and gas bottles (max. 9 kg each, 6 per visit). General and green waste costs a fee, but households receive 10 waste vouchers per financial year, each covering up to 100 kg. Mattresses cost $36.60 each.

NSW Community Recycling Centres (CRCs): more than 100 permanent sites where NSW householders can drop off problem waste free of charge all year: paint, motor and other oils, household and car batteries, gas bottles, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and fluoro globes and tubes. Household quantities only – as a guide, up to 20 L or 20 kg per waste type. Most CRCs are open to all NSW residents (Leichhardt and Cumberland are exceptions); businesses cannot use them.

• Bulky household items: many councils run a kerbside hard-rubbish or bulky-waste collection (Brisbane: an annual kerbside collection with an acceptable-items list) or accept bulky items at the tip. Frequency, booking and limits vary by council.
• E-waste (TVs, computers): the federal National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS) gives households and small businesses access to free collection points for TVs, computers, printers, parts and peripherals, run by councils, retailers or the scheme's co-regulatory arrangements. In Victoria, anything with a plug, battery or power cord has been banned from household rubbish and landfill since 2019.
• Batteries: never put them in any bin – the NSW EPA warns a single battery can start a fire. Loose household batteries (AA, AAA, button, rechargeables, easily removable batteries) go to B-cycle drop-off points in many supermarkets, hardware and electronics stores. In NSW, removable household batteries under 20 kg (e.g. e-bike and e-scooter batteries) are accepted free at CRCs and Household Chemical CleanOut events.
• Paint, chemicals and oils: in NSW, paint and oils go to CRCs; other household chemicals (cleaners, pool and garden chemicals, pesticides) go to mobile Household Chemical CleanOut events. Victoria runs free Detox Your Home collection events with councils. Elsewhere, ask your council.
• Medicines: return expired or unwanted medicines to any participating community pharmacy. The Australian Government-funded NatRUM program (Return Unwanted Medicines) disposes of them at no cost to you, mostly by high-temperature incineration.
• Asbestos: never in kerbside bins. In NSW it may only go to a landfill licensed to accept it – phone ahead – and removal of any friable asbestos or more than 10 m² of bonded asbestos requires a licensed contractor. Rules differ in other states.
• Solar panels and home batteries: in Victoria, solar panels, inverters and energy storage equipment count as e-waste; installers must take removed panels to an authorised e-waste collection point or recycler. B-cycle does not yet cover residential energy storage batteries, so ask your installer or council.
• Clothing and textiles: donate usable items to charity shops or bins; the NSW EPA encourages people to think about the quality of what they donate, to help reduce dumping around charity bins and shops.

According to the NSW EPA, a container deposit scheme now operates in every state and territory, paying a 10-cent refund per eligible drink container returned to a refund point.

| State | Scheme | |---|---| | NSW | Return and Earn (since 2017) | | Victoria | CDS Vic (since 1 November 2023) | | Queensland, WA | Containers for Change | | South Australia | Container deposit scheme since 1977 – the first in Australia | | Tasmania | Recycle Rewards (started 2025) |

In NSW, most empty drink containers from 150 mL to 3 L are eligible – look for the "10c refund" marking; containers must be empty, uncrushed and still labelled. Milk, wine and spirit bottles, cordial and juice bottles of 1 L and over are currently excluded in NSW and go in the yellow bin. NSW and South Australia have announced that wine and spirit bottles and larger drink containers will be added by late 2027. Western Australia expanded its scheme on 1 July 2026 to almost all beverage containers from 150 mL to 3 L; Queensland already accepts wine and spirit bottles.

At national level, the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 regulates the export of waste material and sets the framework for voluntary, co-regulatory and mandatory product stewardship – the NTCRS for TVs and computers operates under it. Exports of waste glass, plastic, tyres and paper and cardboard are regulated, and exporters need a licence. Day-to-day waste management is state and territory law (for example Victoria's Circular Economy (Waste Reduction and Recycling) Act 2021), and councils run collections and tips.