What actually goes in the yellow bin?

I like to think of myself as somewhat environmentally friendly. conscious perhaps is a better word. I have a recycle bin, I recently purchased one of those cool ‘keep cup‘ reusable coffee cups (did you know that most disposable paper cups have a waterproof coating made of synthetic latex, wax or polyethylene, and cannot be recycled), I don’t litter, I am {somewhat} water and energy efficient…

Over the past few months every-single-time that I pop my rubbish into our recycle bin I often wonder if what I am putting in is actually supposed to go in the yellow lidded bin, or should it be in the normal bin? I wonder how many other people actually are recycling the correct items? I wish the bin had a picture sign on the side with the items allowed and a big red cross through the items not allowed.

SO today I finally remembered to go to the book of answers at my fingertips and googled it. I found a factsheet on the brisbane.qld.gov.au website.

Apparently each council has variations around what you should and shouldn’t pop in your yellow lid bin, which makes consistency and education a bit difficult, but this is the general types of waste that the yellow lidded garbage bin likes to eat.

PAPER - anything from magazines to your office paper rubbish but NOT bubble-wrap packaging or waxed paper
CARDBOARD - think milk and juice cartons but NOT waxed boxes or anything with food scraps
PLASTIC - last night’s Chinese container, margarine tubs and water bottles but NOT plastic bags, disposable nappies, garage car oil containers, pesticide bottles
METAL - tuna tins, aerosol cans, soda cans, alfoil but NOT cutlery, scrap iron or wire
GLASS - jars, bottles but NOT drinking glasses, mirrors and heatproof glass cookware

So it seems that a lot more is recyclable than I thought! But there were also a few extra tips to remember:

– Tree trimmings, flowers and grass clippings are NOT recyclable. Start up a compost and pop these items in it, along with your fruit and vege food scraps
– You CAN recycle caps but it’s best to remove them before putting the bottles in the bin
– REDUCE REUSE RECYCLE AND DISPOSE
– Don’t put plastic bags in your recycle bin, you should try and use reusable green bags when you do your shopping

So there you have it. Perhaps you next fortnightly challenge can be to make sure your yellow lid bin is fuller than your green lid bin! It should be given that you can recycle so much!