What is recycling?

Recycling in Australia is the system of collecting, sorting, and reprocessing materials such as glass, paper, cardboard, metal, and plastic so they can be turned into new products instead of being sent to landfill. Most Australian households use kerbside recycling collection, supplemented by container deposit schemes, drop-off centres, and product stewardship programmes for specific items.

Kerbside recycling is run by local councils. Most households have separate bins for general waste (red lid), recyclables (yellow lid), and garden organics (green lid), with food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bins increasingly rolled out alongside or instead of green-only bins. The yellow recycling bin typically accepts paper, cardboard, glass bottles and jars, aluminium and steel cans, and rigid plastic containers numbered 1, 2, and 5. Soft plastics (bags, wrappers, films), expanded polystyrene, and small electronics generally should not go in the yellow bin.

Container deposit schemes operate in every state and territory. Eligible drink containers (most cans, plastic bottles, and small glass bottles between 150 millilitres and three litres) carry a 10-cent refund when returned to approved collection points. Schemes are branded differently in each state: Return and Earn in NSW, Victorian Container Deposit Scheme, Containers for Change in Queensland and Western Australia, Reverse Vending in South Australia (the original 1977 scheme that inspired the rest), and similar arrangements elsewhere. Together they recover several billion containers a year and have substantially reduced beverage litter.

Other product-specific recycling programmes operate under federal product stewardship schemes. The National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme allows free drop-off of televisions, computers, and peripherals at approved sites. Mobile Muster collects mobile phones for recycling. B-cycle handles household batteries through about 4,000 drop-off points. Tyrecycle handles used vehicle tyres. Paintback recovers leftover paint. The soft plastics return-to-store scheme paused in late 2022 after the collapse of REDcycle but has been progressively reinstated under a joint supermarket and government recovery plan from 2024.