Recycling...Your yellow lid bin

Your recycle bin is collected fortnightly. Ensure your bin is out by 6am of the day of collection. Click here to find out when your bin will be collected.

Items for recycle bin:

• Paper – newspaper, magazines and advertising brochures
• Cardboard – cardboard, egg cartons and pizza boxes (flattened)
• Cartons – milk and juice cartons including tetrapacks (rinsed)
• Plastic – bottles and containers (no polystyrene), lids removed, with a recycling triangle symbol around the numbers 1 to 7
• Glass – bottles and jars but not window glass, light bulbs, mirrors, ceramics, or cookware
• Aluminium – cans and pie trays (no food scraps)
• Steel – food cans and containers lids (clean) and empty aerosols

Don’t include:

• Ceramics and ovenware
• Syringes
• Food scraps
• Nappies
• Light bulbs
• Gas cylinders
• Plastic bags
• Cling wrap
• Crystal
• Computer screens
• Windows
• Garden waste
• Automotive parts
• Batteries
• Foam
• Polystyrene
• Styrofoam
• Crockery or china
• Hose/pipes
• Mirrors/plate glass
• Plastic furniture

Don’t Waste Your Recycling Effort. Follow these safe recycling tips...

Did you know that after your recycle bin is taken away, items are sorted by hand and not a machine? So be safe and never put syringes, broken glass or other harmful objects in your bin.

Some items must not be placed in your recycling bin, either because as they will contaminate other items, or because they pose a threat to the safety of sorters.

Contamination of recyclables can result in whole loads being taken to landfill. Place recyclable items loose in the bin, and don’t include plastic bags, green waste, nappies, syringes, clothes, food waste or polystyrene.

By following these easy tips you can ensure your efforts aren’t wasted, and we can continue to re-manufacture new value added products such as cardboard boxes, new plastic bottles and much more.

Tips

• Take lids off plastic bottles and glass items
• Place items loose in the bin – not in plastic bags
• Rinse containers
• Ensure aerosol cans are empty
• Check for the recycling symbols on items to ensure they are recyclable
• Include only household items (e.g. from the kitchen, bathroom and laundry) not from the garage or garden shed

Recycling symbols

The main plastics in Australia (Characteristics and Uses)

ID Code	Name of Plastic	Characteristics	Applications for virgin plastics	Applications for plastic made from recycled waste plastic
	polyethylene terephthalate PET	Clear, tough, solvent resistant, often used as a fibre.	Carbonated soft drink bottles, fruit juice bottles, pillow and sleeping bag filling, textile fibres.	Soft drink bottles, disinfectant bottles, detergent bottles, scoops, laminated sheeting, reinforced glass sheets, clear film for packaging, textile fabrics.
	high density polyethylene	Hard to semi-flexible, waxy surface, opaque, melts at 135C	Crinkly shopping bags, freezer bags, milk bottles, bleach bottles, buckets, rigit agricultural pipe, milk crates.	Compost bins, mesh, detergent bottles, crates, garden edging, industrial bags, pipes, plumbing fittings, household bags, irrigation pipes, oil containers, pallets, kerbside recycling containers.
	unplasticised polyvinyl chloride UPVIC	Hard, rigid, can be clear, can be solvent welded	Electrical conduit, plumbing pipes and fittings, blister packs, clear cordial and fruit juice bottles.	Detergent bottles, ducting for electrical cables, hoses, road cone bases, drainage pipes.
	plasticised polyvinyl chloride PPVC	Flexible, flear, elastic, can be solvent welded	Garden hose, shoe soles, cable sheathing, blood bags & tubing, watch straps.
	low density polyethylene LDPE	Soft, flexible, waxy surface, translucent, melts at 80C, scratches easily	Garbage bags, squeeze bottles, black irrigation tube, black mulch film, garbage bins.	Builder's film, carry bags, household bags, industrial bags and film, plant nursery film.
	polypropylene PP	Hard but still flexible, waxy surface, melts at 145C, translucent, withstands solvents. Very versatile material with many applications.	Potato crisp bags, drinking straws, microwave ware, plastic kettles, plastic garden settings, baby baths, plastic hinged lunch boxes, butter and icecream containers.	Compost bins, crates, garden edging, kerbside recycling containers, worm factories.
	polystyrene PS	Clear, glassy, rigid, brittle, opaque, semi-tough, melts at 95C. Affected by fats and solvents.	Yoghurt containers, plastic cutlery, imitation crystal "glassware", low cost brittle toys.	Clothes pegs, coat hangers, office accessories, spools, rulers, video and CD boxes
	expanded polystyrene EPS	Foamed, light weight, energy absorbing, thermal insulation.	Foamed polystyrene hot drink cups, hamburger take-away clamshells, foamed meat trays. Protective packaging for fragile items.
	Includes all other resins and multi materials (e.g. laminates). Examples are polyamide, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylic, nylon, polyurethane (PU) and phenolics.

For more information, please phone the Customer Service Centre on 1300 878 001 or send an email to Townsville Waste.