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Yellow-lid recycling bin

Find out what paper, plastic and metal items can be put in your yellow-lid recycling bin.

 


 

Your yellow-lid bin is for recycling. What you can put in your recycling bin has changed. This is because we're only accepting materials that we know can be processed and recycled locally.

We are now accepting milk and juice cartons, TetraPaks and other liquid paperboard products in the yellow-lid recycling bin. Please be sure to remove the cap before placing it in the bin.

For a quick reference guide on how to use your yellow-lid recycling bin you can download our poster.

 

How to recycle using your yellow-lid recycle bin

What can go in

  • Paper, cardboard, junk mail and egg cartons
  • Aluminium foil and cans
  • Metal lids from bottles and jars
  • Milk, juice, soy milk and stock cartons
  • Plastic bottles labelled 1 and 2
  • Most plastic items labelled 5.

What can't go in

  • Glass bottles and jars (these can be recycled in your purple-lid glass bin) Read how to recycle glass.
  • Aerosol cans
  • Loose plastic lids of any kind, including trigger, spray and pump lids
  • All plastic items labelled 1 and 2 that are not plastic bottles
  • All plastic items labelled 3,4,6 and 7.

Remember

  • Don't put your recyclables in plastic bags.
  • Check the numbered labels on all plastic items before they go in the yellow recycling bin - only plastic bottles labelled 1, 2 and items labelled plastic 5 can be recycled.
  • If the plastic item has no label or number, it goes in the rubbish bin.
  • Rinse all food residue from containers.
  • Scrunch your aluminium foil.

Identification numbers and symbols

It's important to know that the numbers and symbols found on the bottom of plastic items are not recycling symbols. It's actually a plastic identification code which tells us what type of plastic it is. Learn more about the numbers below.

How to recycle plastic (by the numbers)

Plastic is much harder to recycle as it's difficult for us to tell what material an item is made from when sorting. There are also many products now that can't be recycled, even though they may have the traditional recycling symbol. If you're not sure if you can recycle something, unfortunately it is best to put it in your landfill bin.

  • Cleaning product bottles
  • Detergent bottles
  • Juice bottles
  • Milk bottles
  • Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel bottles
  • Soft drink bottles
  • All plastic food containers labelled 5
  • Ice-cream containers and lids (usually the same plastic)
  • Plastic meat trays
  • Butter, margarine, yoghurt, dip tubs
  • Biscuit and cake trays
  • Bottle tops − loose and on bottle
  • Clothes hangers
  • Cups − plastic disposable
  • Cups − plastic reusable
  • Cutlery
  • Deodorant (roll on), as it has too many mixed materials
  • Dip pots/tubs (not labelled 5)
  • Meat trays (not labelled 5)
  • Medicine bottles, as it's not hygienic
  • Plant pots
  • Plastic bags
  • Plastic punnets (not labelled 5)
  • Sushi containers
  • Plastic take away containers (not labelled 5)
  • Toys
  • Yoghurt containers (not labelled 5)

We can’t recycle many of these items, because it is too difficult to know what they are made from.

1 – PET or Polyethylene Terephthalate

The easiest plastic to recycle. It’s a clear, tough, solvent resistant plastic. It’s used for water, soft drink and detergent bottles. It’s recycled into bottles and polyester fibres.

2 – HDPE or High Density Polyethylene

You can find HDPE in both rigid and soft plastic forms. It’s a very common plastic, and in the rigid form is usually white or coloured, and is used for milk bottles, shampoo bottles and cleaning products. Yarra accepts HDPE bottles only, which are recycled into more bottles or bags. As a soft plastic, HDPE is found in freezer bags, plastic bags, and other plastic food packaging.

3 – PVC or Polyvinyl Chloride

This stuff is everywhere – pipes, toys, furniture and packaging. It’s difficult to recycle and contains harmful chemicals.

4 – LDPE or Low Density Polyethylene

This is usually a soft, flexible plastic that’s used for different kinds of wrapping, bread bags, produce bags and bin bags.

5 – PP or Polypropylene

This is a hard but still flexible plastic. It’s used for ice cream containers and lids and plastic take away containers. Yarra accepts food containers labelled 5 only.

6 – PS or Polystyrene

This is used to make cups, foam food trays and packing materials. It’s also known as Styrofoam and is a real problem as it’s bulky yet very light and this makes it difficult to recycle.

7 – Other

This shows the item could be a mixture of any and all of the above or a plastic that is not readily recyclable, such as polyurethane.

How to recycle paper and cardboard

Paper is easy to recycle, we grind it down and use it in many everyday products such as paper towels, toilet paper and newspapers.

Food and drink cartons such as milk, juice, soy milk, stock cartons and some plastic containers are now accepted in your recycling bin.

  • Books
  • Butcher’s paper
  • Cardboard
  • Cardboard boxes, but flattened
  • Egg cartons, but with no residue
  • Envelopes, with or without windows
  • Greeting cards, but no novelty cards due to their small electronic components
  • Junk mail
  • Magazines
  • Newspapers
  • Paper
  • Paper bags, but they must be emptied and have no plastic lining and no cement bags
  • Paper towel rolls (not paper towel)
  • Phonebooks
  • Pizza boxes, with no scraps
  • Shredded paper
  • Toilet rolls
  • Wrapping paper
  • Coffee cups
  • Paper towel
  • Waxed cardboard boxes
  • Paper based or compostable cat litter
How to recycle metal

Metal is also easy for us to recycle, as it can be melted down into new products such as food and drink cans.

However, some metal products have components made of plastic, and can’t be sorted or recycled by our processor.

  • Food and drink cans (empty)
  • Can lids, but only if they're metal
  • Cooking oil tins
  • Aluminium foil, but only if it's scrunched
  • Jar lids, but only if they're metal
  • Pet food cans
  • Tin cans, including baby formula cans
  • Aerosol cans, for safety reasons
  • Clothes hangers
  • Cutlery
  • Pots and pans