Put the

right thing in
the right bin!
ORGANICS

G E N E R A L WA S T E R E C YC L I N G

The three bin collection system:

organics, recycling and general waste.
Our three bin system
The three bin kerbside collection consists of:
• Fortnightly collection of your lime green lid
organics bin
• Fortnightly collection of your blue or yellow
lid recycling bin
• Weekly collection of your dark green or red lid RECYCLING
general waste bin Lid colour -
blue or yellow

Sort it out before you throw it out!

Most people are very good at sorting their recycling,
organics and general waste however some are not so
good at it and that is when the wrong things end up
in the wrong bins. When this happens, recyclable and
organic material ends up in the landfill instead of being
turned into new items or compost and this is simply a
waste of good waste!
We can only do better if members of our community
make sure they reduce the amount of waste they create
in the first place and then sort their waste out before
they throw it out. ORGANICS
Lid colour - lime green
To reduce your waste consider: refusing junk mail (visit
the City’s offices for a free “No advertising” sticker), using
a refillable water bottle instead of buying water in plastic
bottles or swapping soft plastic items for recyclable
items next time you visit the supermarket. These are just
a few things you can do to generate less waste.
We all need to be smarter about how we sort our waste
to ensure we are putting the right thing in the right bin!
After all, your waste is your responsibility.
Everyone wins when bin contamination is kept to a
minimum because it reduces the City’s financial costs. GENERAL WASTE
It’s also much better for our environment. Doing the right Lid colour -
thing starts in your own home. dark green or red

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RECYCLING

Recycling
(yellow or blue lid bin)

Your yellow or blue lid recycling bin is

for materials such as paper, cardboard,
glass, aluminium and steel cans, rigid
plastics such as containers, bottles
and meat trays.
Recycling reduces the amount of
waste we send to landfill, it also
reduces the amount of raw materials
we need to use such as oil, gas and
water to create new products!
There are many rooms in your house
where you keep items that can be
recycled including the bathroom,
laundry, garden shed and kitchen.
Please place recycling in the bin loose.
Do not put items in plastic bags!

What happens to your recycling once it’s picked up?

• Bins are collected fortnightly by local drivers and taken to a local materials
recovery facility for sorting
• The sorting is undertaken using manual labour and machinery. Bagged recyclables
are thrown off and sent to landfill
• Magnets, eddy currents, trommels and conveyor belts sort materials
• Recycling is sorted and contamination is removed by hand, this includes recycling
placed in plastic bags
• All contamination is taken to the landfill including all recyclable items placed in
plastic bags
• The recycled goods are baled and sold off as a commodity to be turned into things
like new cans, bottles, newspaper, toilet paper, etc.

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RECYCLING

What can you put in your recycling bin?

Aluminium and steel cans Foil and aluminium Glass bottles

All cardboard Empty deodorant or Paper

air freshener cans

All rigid plastics, such as:

Yoghurt containers Plastic bottles

Rigid plastic tubs Fabric softener and Shampoo, moisturiser,

pre-soak spray bottles sunscreen and surface
cleaning bottles

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 RECYCLING

What can’t you put in your recycling bin?

Nappies, incontinence Rags and clothing that Polystyrene foam

products and aids are suitable for donation and trays
(Recycling and reusing are
different)

Broken crockery and Plastic bags, cling film and other soft plastics
drinking glass wear (soft plastic recycling bins are available at some super markets,
please check your local store for more information)

Disposable coffee cups Food and green waste Paper towel and tissues

Punnets, thin plastic Sharps and sharps Scrap metal such as

biscuit trays and containers (Residents should wire, broom handles,
meat trays take these to disposal points at coat hangers etc.
the City’s Lyttleton Terrace and
Heathcote offices or Bendigo
Community Health)

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RECYCLING

Need a bigger recycling bin?

If you need a larger bin you should contact
the City of Greater Bendigo on 5434 6000 to
order a 360 litre mega recycling bin!

Remember:
• You just have to scrape your recyclables
clean and place in the recycling bin loose!
No need to scrub it.
• Roll foil into a ball the size of a golf ball
• Make sure aerosol cans are empty
• Flatten boxes and cartons to fit more in
your bin
• Do not bag recyclables as they go
straight to landfill
• Try buying items with recyclable packing
and avoid individually wrapped products
• General waste contamination can ruin an
entire load of recyclables so please do not
place any bagged items in the recycling bin
• Get it right on bin night and have your bin
out the night before your collection day

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 ORGANICS

Organics (lime green lid bin)

Recycling organics is a great way to divert
material from landfill and recycle the nutrients in
your food and garden waste that you no longer
need!
Remember all food can go in the organics bin; it
doesn’t matter where it is from, even meat and
bones. A caddy and caddy liners are provided
to make this easy and as mess free as possible
for you at home, make sure you remove the food
packaging before placing it in the caddy and
change your liners every 2-3 days.

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ORGANICS

What can you put in your organics bin?

Fruit and vegetable Cooked and Meat, poultry and bones

scraps uncooked food (cooked or raw)

Bread, rice, pasta Eggs and egg shells Fish and other seafood
and cereal (cooked or raw including
oyster shells)

Food wrapped in Tea leaves, tea bags Dairy products including

newspaper and coffee grounds cheese, yoghurt and
cream

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 ORGANICS

Bark Wooden skewers Timber

and toothpicks (unpainted, unstained)

Vacuum cleaner dust Shredded paper, soiled Prunings and small

and dirt (but not the paper and raw cardboard branches (must be no bigger
disposable vacuum bag) (pizza boxes, fish and chip than 100 mm diameter and no
wrapping) longer than the length of your
organics bin)

Weeds, lawn clippings, Hair and animal fur Paper towel and tissues
leaves, and small plants

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ORGANICS

What can’t you put in your organics bin?

Food packaging Fruit stickers Nappies, incontinence

products and aids

‘Biodegradable’ bags Plastic bags, cling film and other soft plastics
(soft plastic recycling bins are available at some super markets,
please check your local store for more information)

Treated or painted timber, Magazines and Kitty litter and

laminates and MDF catalogues animal droppings

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 ORGANICS

Branches larger than Baby wipes and makeup Diseased plants

100 mm diameter or removal wipes (Black spot, fruit fly)
Please bag and place in
longer than the length your general waste bin
of the bin

Plant pots Liquids (e.g. cooking oil) Dead animals

Garden tools Large logs or stumps Garden hose

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ORGANICS

How does my food and • The finished product is ready after

roughly 16 weeks. Compost is ready
garden waste get turned when it looks feels and smells like
into compost? rich, dark earth rather than rotting
vegetables
• Bins are collected fortnightly by local
drivers and taken to the Eaglehawk • Compost products from the organics
Eco Centre for a pre-sort and then all collection can be purchased locally.
organic material is taken to a shed Please contact Customer Support on
located on the Eaglehawk Landfill site (03) 5434 6000 for further details

• At Biomix the organic waste

undergoes manual decontamination Need a smaller
• Once the material has been organics bin?
decontaminated, the food and garden The City understands that people living
organics are loaded into a slow speed in flats, units or smaller homes may not
shredder to reduce it to a smaller size need a 240 litre organics bin. If you
• The shredded food and garden would like a smaller 140 litre organics
organics is then loaded into bin please contact the City of Greater
vessels where it undergoes a Bendigo on 5434 6000 or visit
pasteurization process for 10 days. www.bendigo.vic.gov.au (please
The pasteurization process treats the note there is no price difference in
organic material to significantly reduce collection of a smaller organics bin)
plant and animal pathogens. While
in the vessel, moisture temperature Remember:
and oxygen is monitored. The organic
material must reach 55-65 degrees. •T
 he green caddy liners provided by
the City are compostable unlike plastic
• Once pasteurized, the food and shopping bags. Please only use the
garden organics is moved on to liners provided by the City of Greater
rows of compost piles where it is Bendigo
matured. The compost is monitored
for temperature and moisture content •T
 he provided caddy liners are not
and turned when required to achieve be utilised for the collection of dog
maturity. This takes about 10 to 12 droppings
weeks. •P
 ut your organics bin out for
• When the compost is matured it fortnightly collection even if it’s not full
is ready to go for screening. This •G
 et it right on bin night and have
process separates fine compost ready your bin out the night before your
to sell to the market and the oversize collection day
is re-processed

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 GENERAL WASTE

General Waste
(red or dark green lid bin)

Everything you put in your general

waste bin ends up in the landfill.
A landfill is a disposal site where waste
is buried, the environmental impact
is significant. Landfills are a large
expensive hole in the ground built to
hold waste for many years to come.
A lot of energy and resources go into
managing and monitoring the landfill
with no reward or future benefits.

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GENERAL WASTE

What can you put in your general waste bin?

Nappies, incontinence Rags and clothing Polystyrene foam

products and aids that aren’t suitable for and trays
donation

Disposable coffee cups Bagged animal Plastic straws and cutlery

droppings

Broken crockery and Plastic bags, cling film and other soft plastics
drinking glasswear (soft plastic recycling bins are available at some supermarkets,
please check your local store for more information)

Tablet push packets

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 GENERAL WASTE

What can’t you put in your general waste bin?

Paper All cardboard Glass

Aluminium and steel cans Food waste Batteries and e-waste

Gas bottles and paint Green waste including Households chemicals

grass

Rigid plastics such as Sharps and sharps Paper towel and tissues
containers, bottles and containers (Residents should
meat trays take these to disposal points at
the City’s Lyttleton Terrace and
Heathcote offices or Bendigo
Community Health)

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GENERAL WASTE

Need a smaller general

waste bin?
If you have a 240 litre general
waste bin you can changeover to
a smaller 140 litre bin. Please
contact the City on 5434 6000 or
visit www.bendigo.vic.gov.au to
request a smaller general waste bin.
There is a reduced charge for a
140 litre general waste service.

Remember:
• Recyclable material, food and
garden waste do not belong in the
waste bin
• Try buying items with recyclable
packaging, avoiding individually
wrapped products
• Use reusable containers and bags
• Reduce the amount of mail you
receive
• Did you know that under the
current Environmental Local Law
your red or dark green lidded
general waste bin is for the
disposal of household waste that
cannot be recycled or composted?
• In some cases, residents are
required to sort their waste into
the correct bins before the driver
can collect it
• Get it right on bin night and have
your bin out the night before your
collection day

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 E-WASTE

E-waste - banned from landfills

E-waste means electronic waste. E-waste is any electronic item with a battery,
electric plug or cord that no longer works or is not wanted.
Examples of e-waste include hair dryers, portable and plug in radios, computer
equipment, old gaming consoles, lamps, electric fans, power tools and toys that
run on batteries.
Much of e-waste can be recycled. E-waste items can be disassembled and
sorted, the bits and pieces like plastic and metals are then recycling and turned
into new products.
We don’t want e-waste to go to landfill. In fact from July 1, 2019 the Victorian
Government has placed a ban on e-waste going to landfill. This means that you will
no longer be able to place any e-waste in your general waste bin.
E-waste is a growing waste problem. The more electronic stuff we buy, the more
e-waste there will be in the future. So we need to be resourceful and smart about
disposing of old electronic waste.
You can take your E-Waste to the Eaglehawk Recycle
Shop located at the front of the Eaglehawk Landfill
or to one of the City’s transfer stations for recycling.

E-waste disposal bins

E-waste such as batteries, keyboards, computer mice,
printer cartridges and mobile phones can be disposed
of in a specially designed bin located at the City of
Greater Bendigo offices in Lyttleton Terrace
Bendigo and High Street Heathcote.

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E-WASTE

What is e-waste?

Electric razors Hair dryers and Electric toothbrushes

and shavers straighteners

Kitchen appliances Microwaves Childrens toys

Televisions DVD players Radios and stereos

Lamps Torches Power tools

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What to do with items that don’t go in
your waste, organics or recycling bins

Bricks, rubble and soil

You can take your unwanted bricks and rubble to ASQ Upper California Gully Road,
Eaglehawk for a more cost effective recycling option.

Disposing of household chemicals

Household chemicals can be kept and disposed of at the annual house hold
chemical collection run by Sustainability Victoria please contact the City on
5434 6000 for more information on dates and times.

Hazardous/medical waste
Sharps containers can be collected and dropped off for disposal at the City’s
Lyttleton Terrace and Heathcote offices or Bendigo Community Health)
The Eaglehawk Eco Centre in Upper California Gully road accepts the following
items free of charge:
• Paint • Batteries
• Barbecue gas bottles • Electrical items including
computer monitors, televisions,
• Automotive and cooking oils
other electronic waste
• Light globes

Waste education
If your school or business would like a free waste education session please contact
the City on 5434 6000 to arrange a date and time with our Education Officer.

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Can’t remember when your bins are due for
collection? Community Compass can help!
The City of Greater Bendigo now has an online mapping service designed to
simplify resident’s access to Council information. Called Community Compass
and prominently linked on the City’s website www.bendigo.vic.gov.au, the new
service allows users to type in their addresses and then readily access a range of
information such as:
• Organics, recycling and waste bin collection days
• Planning zones and overlays
• Maternal and Child Health Centre locations
• Nearby playgrounds, pre-schools, primary
and secondary schools and
tertiary institutions

Damaged or stolen bins

Waste and recycling bins, the organics bin
and kitchen caddy are owned by the City of
Greater Bendigo and must not be taken from
the property when you relocate.
Please check your bins regularly for worn or
damaged hinge pins and lids. If repairs are
required the City will undertake this work free
of charge.
To report faulty, damaged or stolen bins
please contact the City on 5434 6000 or
email requests@bendigo.vic.gov.au

Printed on FSC certified paper.

For further information please contact

The City of Greater Bendigo
P: (03) 5434 6000
E: requests@bendigo.vic.gov.au
A: 195-229 Lyttleton Terrace, Bendigo
W: www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/waste