Bins

All households with a waste service in Kempsey Shire have green, yellow and red bins.

For your bin collection day, see Waste & bin collection.

For questions about bins, call the Waste Hotline on 1300 342 207.

Green bin – food and garden organics

The 240-litre green-lidded food and garden organics bin is available to residents and premises in urban areas of Kempsey Shire. It is collected weekly. 

The green bin is for all food and garden waste, even things you can’t compost at home. By putting all food and garden waste into the green bin, you can reduce your impact on the environment and help to keep waste service costs down. 

What can go in your green bin?

  • all food waste and scraps
  • meat, bones, chicken, fish, shellfish
  • fruit and vegetable peels
  • leftovers and plate scrapings 
  • bread, dairy, citrus fruit and onions
  • coffee grounds
  • garden waste like lawn clippings and weeds (no soil)
  • small twigs, sticks and branches 
  • small non-treated timber offcuts
  • prunings and flowers
  • Cornstarch kitchen caddy bags for scraps

What can’t go in your green bin?

  • no plastic bags
  • no food packaging or recyclables
  • no soils or rocks
  • no large branches, stumps or building waste
  • no treated timber
  • no kitty litter, manure or animal droppings
  • no fibrous materials like 

Fibre-based food contact materials including baking paper, coffee filters, paper towels, serviettes; fibre-based food containers such as coffee cups, pizza boxes, plates, bowls; paper bags; cardboard packaging; and other compostable plastic bags do not go in the FOGO bin.

Read our green bin factsheet(PDF, 1MB)

Helpful hints

  • Use your kitchen caddy and compostable bag system.
  • Don’t fill your bin with heavy lawn clippings – the weight limit is 80kg.
  • Shake off soil before placing garden material in your bin.
  • Bulky garden waste is accepted at Council waste facilities for a small fee.

What happens to your food and garden waste?

Food and garden material in the green bin is taken to an organics recycling facility at Cairncross. It is mulched and then composted to produce a nutrient-rich soil conditioner product.

Yellow bin – recycling

The 240-litre yellow-lidded recycling bin is available to all residents in the Kempsey Shire. It is collected fortnightly.

The yellow bin is for all household recyclables. Kempsey residents are already very good at recycling, but there’s more we can do. By sorting recyclables into the yellow bin, you can reduce the amount of valuable resources going to landfill and help to keep community costs down.

What can go in your yellow bin?

  • steel, tin and aluminium cans, including completely empty aerosols  
  • clear, brown and green glass bottles and jars 
  • plastic bottles and containers
  • cardboard boxes, milk and juice cartons
  • newspapers, magazines, office paper and junk mail, including window envelopes

What can’t go in your yellow bin?

  • no plastic bags – use your red bin or take to a Coles or Woolworths REDcycle bin
  • no foam or polystyrene – use your red bin
  • no ceramics, pyrex or pottery – use your red bin
  • no waxed boxes – use your red bin
  • no aluminium foil or aluminium trays – use your red bin
  • no nappies – use your red bin
  • no plastic toys – use your red bin
  • no light bulbs, mirrors or drinking glasses – use your red bin
  • no batteries, as some kinds can start fires – take to a Council waste facility
  • no food  – use your green bin

Read our yellow bin factsheet(PDF, 1013KB)

Helpful hints

  • Flatten all boxes. 
  • Rinse containers to reduce odours.
  • Take the lids off containers and make sure there’s no food or liquid inside. Lids go in your red bin.
  • Remove plastic wrap from newspapers and magazines.
  • Don’t put recyclables into a box or bag – leave them loose in your yellow bin.
  • Never put broken glass in your yellow bin – recycling is also sorted by hand.
  • Household recycling is accepted free of charge at Council waste facilities.
  • Even small amounts of contamination can result in valuable materials being lost to landfill. This results in increased costs for residents.
  • Complete the recycling loop by purchasing goods made from recycled materials wherever possible.

Where does your recycling go?

Recyclables from the yellow-lidded bin are taken to the Cairncross Materials Recovery Facility, where they are sorted and bailed ready for reprocessing and remanufacture into new products we need.

Red bin – rubbish

All residents have either a 140-litre or a 240-litre red-lidded rubbish bin. It is collected fortnightly.

What can go in your red bin?

  • household general waste
  • plastic bags
  • non-recyclable items
  • nappies, pet waste, kitty litter
  • foam, polystyrene 
  • light globes, mirrors, ceramics, cookware, drinking glasses
  • Paper towel, serviettes, aluminium foil contaminated with food

What can’t go in your red bin?

  • no bricks, heavy timber or steel
  • no paint, chemicals, liquids or motor oil
  • no garden waste – put this in your green bin instead
  • no medical waste or syringes – see Syringes and sharps disposal

Read our red bin factsheet(PDF, 520KB)

Household problem wastes

Household problem wastes include unused paint, old smoke detectors, polystyrene, household and car batteries, fluorescent light globes and tubes, motor and other oils, electronic waste, gas bottles and fire extinguishers.

Problem wastes can cause problems if put into any kerbside bin, including environmental pollution outside your property.

Our Community Recycling Centre offer a free and easy solution for the disposal and recycling of household problem wastes. 

Helpful hints

  • Put your house number on your bin to protect against loss or theft.
  • Don’t put items beside or on top of your bin or jam rubbish in, as it may get stuck.
  • Don’t overload your bin – the maximum weight is 80kg.
  • Think of your red rubbish bin as a last resort. Can you recycle, compost, donate or sell it instead?

Where does your rubbish go?

The contents of your red bin are sent to the local landfill on Crescent Head Road. We should all do our best to reduce the amount of rubbish we put in the red bin.

The potential environmental and public health issues related to landfill include:

  • increasing management costs for the community 
  • loss of resources
  • greenhouse gas emissions
  • water contamination
  • dust and odour issues
  • noise issues
  • land availability.

About your bins

How to request extra bins

The standard bins for households are 240 litres. You can request additional bins for a pro rata fee if you are a property owner or manager or have permission to do this as a tenant – phone the Waste Hotline on 1300 342 207.

Damaged or missing bins

If your bin is damaged or goes missing, call the Waste Hotline on 1300 342 207. You may be asked to call the police event line if bin was stolen or vandalised or complete a waste service application form. Please allow up to three working days after you have completed the form for bin repairs or replacement.

Bin collection tips

  • Put your bin out for collection by 6am on collection day.
  • Make sure there is at least half a metre between obstacles such as a pole or tree and your bin.
  • Don’t place your bin behind a parked car or other obstacles.
  • Don’t overload the bin. The lid should be fully closed.
  • All bins should be collected by 5pm. If any of your bins have not been emptied, phone the Waste Hotline on 1300 342 207 as soon as possible.

Bin audits

Bin audits are carried out randomly to help Council understand waste behaviours and improve waste education. 

If we find your bins to be overweight or highly contaminated, we will let you know with letters and stickers. If you ignore our warnings more than twice, you could be charged a contamination fee or have your bin removed from service. You may have to pay a fee or attend an educational workshop to re-instate the service.

Recycle right! It’s never been so important

The recycling industry is under increasing pressure, as the countries Australia ships recyclable waste to are tightening their import restrictions and accepting only high-quality recyclables. This means it’s never been more important to recycle right.

We need to cut contamination in our recycling bins to: 

  • keep costs low 
  • make sure more is recycled
  • reduce the amount of waste going to our landfill

If you’re wondering what’s happening with recycling and what can we do about it, watch The Future of Recycling, a short video from our waste contractor, Cleanaway.

Reduce, reuse and refuse

Recycling is good, but reducing, reusing and refusing are even better.

Here are our top tips for being waste wise:

  • choose products with less packaging 
  • buy in bulk 
  • shop with your own reusable bags and containers
  • carry your own reusable coffee cups and drink bottles
  • put a ‘no junk mail’ sign on your letterbox
  • make litter-free lunches with reusable containers and cutlery
  • buy better-quality products that last longer
  • sell, give away or donate unwanted items
  • choose recycled material products, like recycled paper for office, kitchen or toilet

Find more ideas in our Be Wastewise factsheet(PDF, 2MB)

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