Our biggest offenders in recycling

Read below to find out more about how takeaway coffee cups and soft plastics mess up our recycling facilities.

  • Takeaway coffee cups

    Approximately 98% of disposable coffee cups have a plastic lining that can’t be easily separated from the paper, meaning the cups are often rejected as contaminated waste and end up in landfill.

    Be a good sort: Put disposable coffee cups & lids in your red bin. Use a reusable cup for your coffee.

  • Soft plastics

    Soft plastic bags and packaging like cling wrap, pasta packets, bread bags and biscuit trays should never be put in the yellow recycling bin. These items get caught in waste facility machinery causing contamination, damage and disruption to sorting.

    Be a good sort: Put soft plastics in the red bin. Better still, reduce the purchase of soft plastics by choosing items with minimal packaging.



It's time to re-imagine waste!

Every year, tonnes of recyclables are sent to landfill on the MidCoast. This happens because of two key issues:
  • Wrongly sorted waste

    Sometimes recyclables are mistakenly put into the red general waste bin, these are sent directly to landfill.

  • Recycling contamination

    Often, items that can’t be recycled are put into the yellow recycling bin, from leftover food in containers to soft plastics, clothing, and e-waste. These contaminants get muddled up with other recyclables and can lead to the whole batch being rejected and sent to landfill.

Read more about the ban here.


What goes in your bins?

For more information about what to put in your yellow, green and red bins, please download the posters below.