Yellow lid Recycling Wheelie Bin
Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling provides fortnightly collection of yellow lid recycling wheelie bins for properties within declared collection areas, with your property scheduled as either Week 1 or Week 2. Use our handy ‘search your bin day’ tool and the Recycling Wheelie Bin Fortnightly Service Calendar as a helpful reminder.
Approximately 4,300 tonnes of recyclable materials are collected via yellow lid bins each year! By recycling right, we increase resource recovery, help build a local circular economy and reduce waste going to landfill.
Knowing what items can go in your yellow lid bin will help make sure we’re recycling as much as we can and recycling correctly.
Get your recycling sorted!
Sorting your recycling is now easier than ever with Recycle Mate - your local recycling guide!
Search Recycle Mate to find out what items can be put in your household recycling bin - simply click here or the image below.
You can also download the free Recycle Mate app from the App Store or get the Recycle Mate app on Google Play.
What items can you recycle in your yellow lid bin?
Glass | Clear, green and amber glass bottles and jars.
- Juice and soft drink bottles
- Oil, sauce and vinegar bottles
- Glass jars
- Alcohol bottles
- Medicine bottles
Aluminium and Steel | Scrape/ rinse out all content remnants.
- Soft drink cans
- Clean aluminium or tin foil (clean foil to be collected as a scrunched ball >5cm diameter)
- Empty aerosol deodorant and paint cans
- Metal lids over 5cm wide
- Beer and alcohol cans
- Food tins
- Biscuit tins
Plastic containers | (On hard moulded plastics look for the numbered 1, 2, 4 & 5 recycling symbols)
No Styrofoam/Polystyrene items.
- Drink and milk bottles
- Sauce bottles
- Household containers
- Shampoo/toiletry containers
- Biscuit trays
- Margarine tubs, ice-cream containers, lunch boxes
- Cleaning liquid bottles
- Plastic cups
Paper and Cardboard | Remove any plastic wrap or plastic packaging and flatten boxes.
- Newspapers
- Junk mail and magazines
- Loose office paper
- Envelopes - plain or windowface
- Greeting cards and wrapping paper
- Telephone directories and books
- Food and egg cartons
- Clean pizza boxes
- Toilet paper rolls
- Boxes - corrugated and unwaxed
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do my recyclable items go?
Recyclables can be placed in your yellow-lid recycling wheelie bin, or self-hauled to be dropped off for free in the Commingled recycling bin in the Recycling Area at all waste management facilities in the Rockhampton Region. In 2019, the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) which was located at Parkhurst and contracted to Rockhampton Regional Council and other surrounding councils, was destroyed by fire caused by the disposal of hazardous waste (batteries!!). Since then, kerbside recycling collection trucks have been unloading at Lakes Creek Road Waste Management Facility. From there, the recovered materials are loaded into bulk haul semi-trailers and transported to MRFs outside our region for processing.
As of 18 October 2022, Rockhampton Regional Council, on behalf Livingstone Shire Council, Gladstone Regional Council, Central Highlands Regional Council and Banana Shire Council (together, the 'Participating Councils'), are inviting submissions for tender for a regional solution for Recyclables Processing Services.
Delivery of the services may be from either:
- a MRF to be constructed within the Region;
- from an existing MRF(s); or
- any combination of MRF delivery solutions.
Tenders for this service will close in January 2023. Further updates will be provided once the tender has been awarded.
What do the recycling symbols on packaging mean?
What do other packaging labels mean?
There are lots of labels on packaging and understandably, this can present challenges in knowing how to correctly recycle or dispose of an item.
If you are unsure, if your item is accepted in yellow lid bins, search Recycle Mate on Council's website!
Below is a brief overview of some labels you see on packaging in Australia.
Australasian Recycling Label (ARL)
Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation, Planet Ark and PREP Design work in partnership to deliver the Australasian Recycling Label Program. The Australasian Recycling Label aims to help consumers better understand how to recycle products effectively and assist brand owners to design packaging that is recyclable at end-of-life.
Note! Seeing an ARL on a product does not guarantee that the product is accepted in local recycling collection systems.
Product contains recycled content
The recycled content of a product may be displayed, often near or under a recycling symbol. This is stating the percentage of recycled material used in the manufacturing of the product. There is a lot happening to reform packaging regulation and improve recycled content traceability. Find out more about recycled content in the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation's Recycled Content Guide.
How does the Containers for Change program work?
To help reduce litter and encourage community recycling efforts the Queensland Government introduced the Containers for Change scheme which allows people to receive a 10 cent refund for each eligible container returned to a refund point.
What containers are eligible for a refund?
- Most aluminium, glass, plastic, steel and liquid paperboard beverage containers between 150ml and 3 litres are eligible for a refund.
- Look for the refund mark; "10c refund at collection depot in participating state/ territory of purchase".
- Drink containers generally consumed only at home (eg. cordial, plain milk, wine and spirit bottles, condiments and cleaning) are excluded.
Visit Containers for Change website for frequently asked questions and to search for container refund points.