All households in the ACT have a recycling bin with a yellow lid which is collected fortnightly. Items in the recycling bin are sorted by material type, baled and transported for recycling into new products.
Single residential households have a 240-litre recycling bin. Recycling bin 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 recycling bin loose, without a plastic bag.
Never place batteries or hazardous waste in your household bins. Find a free drop-off point for hazardous items.
Do not place electronics, soft plastics, broken ceramic or glass kitchenware, large 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 or box. Staff are unable to open bags or boxes for safety reasons. Bagged or boxed material will be taken to landfill.
- 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 clean, empty and flat.
- Steel can lids can be left on the can to be recycled. Some lids that are larger than a credit card can be captured by the magnets at the recycling facility.
- A Plastics Identification Code (a triangle with a number inside) may be stamped on a product to indicate what type of plastic the product is made from. This code does not mean that something is recyclable. Only packaging and containers with the certain numbers are accepted in the recycling bin. For more information see the Plastics Identification Code factsheet (PDF 162.4 KB).
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:
Drop-off recycling
Excess household recycling can be dropped off for free at recycling drop-off centres and at Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre.
For more information see facilities and drop off.
ACT Container Deposit Scheme
You can access a 10c refund by returning eligible empty drink containers to an ACT Container Deposit Scheme location across Canberra. The containers are then recycled based on the type of material they are made from.
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.
