All households in the ACT have a recycling bin with a yellow lid which is collected fortnightly. Single residential households have a 240-litre recycling bin. Recycling facilities in apartments and townhouses with shared waste disposal may vary in size.
You can also take excess recycling and larger items to one of the recycling drop-off centres.
Recyclable items
The following items are recyclable in the ACT:
These items should be placed directly into the bin without a plastic bag. Do not put hazardous materials such as batteries or electronics, soft plastics, broken ceramic or glass kitchenware, metal items, clothing, or bulky items in the recycling bin. Check the A-Z guide to recycling and waste for information on how to dispose of specific items.
Recycling tips
- No soft plastics.
- Don’t put your recycling in a plastic bag.
- Items must be empty.
- Keep out items smaller than a credit card.
- Wipe, scrape or rinse out food and drink before putting containers in the recycling bin.
- Make sure cardboard items are empty and flat.
You can also dispose of larger items or excess household recycling at our recycling drop-off centres.
Recycling bin collection
Visit the bins page to see your recycling collection day and for more information about your household bins.
If your bin is full you can:
Recycling drop-off centres
Excess household recycling can be dropped off for free at recycling drop-off centres across Canberra. The centres include hoppers for glass, metal and rigid plastic containers and packaging. Flattened cardboard can be placed into the paper cages. Sharps are also accepted at all sites.
Polystyrene, soft plastics and landfill waste are not accepted at these facilities. CCTV cameras operate 24 hours a day. Fines apply for illegal dumping.
The following recycling drop-off centres are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
You can also drop-off recycling for free at Mugga Lane resource management centre open 7:30 am - 5:00 pm, 7 days a week (except Good Friday and Christmas Day).
Container deposit scheme
You can access a 10c refund by returning empty drink containers to a container deposit scheme location across Canberra. The containers are then recycled based on the type of material they are made from.
Check the label for the ‘10c’ refund mark to see whether a container is eligible and can be returned.
Most containers between 150 ml and 3 litres are accepted and can be redeemed for the 10c refund.
See the ACT container deposit scheme website for more information.
