Your four bins

Your red-lidded bin is collected weekly. 

The rubbish bin is for items that cannot be placed in the mixed recycling, food and garden or glass bin.

What CAN go in? 

• Pet poo
• Cat litter
• Lids from jars, bottles and containers
• Coffee pods
• Nappies and absorbent sanitary products
• Polystyrene packaging
• Pens and pencils
• Garden hoses
• Icy pole sticks
• Juice and milk cartons
• Kitchen cloths
• Used wipes
• Used tissues
• Used serviettes and paper towels
• Broken kitchen/ovenware
• Sanitary products and nappies
• Plastic straws
• Toothbrushes
• Vacuum cleaner bags
• Plant pots
• Takeaway coffee cups
• Wrappers, muesli bars, ice creams
• Stickers and sticky tape
• Textiles 

What CAN'T go in?

• Electronic waste 
• Batteries 
• Light globes 
• Recyclables 
• Food and garden waste
• Paint tins
• Motor oil
• Chemical waste 
• Hazardous substances 

Click here to search a full list of items, or download our four-bin factsheet(PDF, 6MB).

What happens to the bin contents? 

Everything collected from your rubbish bin goes to landfill. The community benefits both environmentally and financially from reducing landfill, so it's important to use the right bins and keep recyclable items out of your rubbish bin.

Your yellow-lidded mixed recycling bin is collected fortnightly.

Did you know that your recycling is sorted by hand to remove items that shouldn’t be there? You can help our recycling workers by ensuring only the right things are put in the recycling bin. Remember – if in doubt, leave it out.

Help us keep recycling out of landfill.

How to recycle using this bin:

1. Check the item you are discarding is accepted in the mixed recycling bin.

2. Tip, rinse or scrape out any obvious solids or liquids from the container – they must be empty.

3. Crush plastic bottles and keep the lids on or put them inside the item. Loose lids cannot be placed in the mixed recycling bin.

What CAN go in? 

Metals

• Cans & tins - aluminium and steel
• Aluminium foil – rolled into a ball, about 10cm in diameter
• Foil trays, in a ball to help the metal detector pick it up
• Aerosol cans - must be empty
• Cooking oil canisters - no need to remove pourer
• Biscuit and chocolate tins

Cardboard products

• Cardboard boxes
• Egg cartons
• Tissue boxes - remove plastic insert
• Pizza boxes - with food debris removed
• Cereal boxes – the soft plastic liner inside goes in the rubbish
• Empty toilet paper rolls
• Cardboard postal envelops - without bubble wrap

Paper products

• Advertising material: catalogues, flyers
• Office paper
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Envelopes
• Cards
• Uncoated deli paper
• Wrapping paper, as long as it doesn’t have a metallic or laminated finish on top of the paper
• Butchers paper

Plastic products

• Drink bottles
• Shampoo bottles
• Laundry detergent bottles
• Milk bottles
• Sauce bottles
• Food containers and jars (eg. peanut butter jars, margarine, yoghurt or ice cream containers)
• Fruit and vegetable trays and punnets
• Biscuit and chocolate trays
• Plastic takeaway containers

What CAN'T go in? 

• Polystyrene 
• Foam packaging 
• Soft plastics 
• Plastic bags (including bagged recyclables)
• Metal pots and pans 
• Light globes 
• Glass
• Textiles 
• Coated or waxed cardboard  

Click here to search a full list of items, or download our four-bin factsheet(PDF, 6MB).

Some items that went in the yellow recycling bin in the past are no longer accepted, as many of those items were sent overseas for processing and the demand is no longer there. 

We get better recycling outcomes by processing our waste locally, as it increases the value and life span of our recyclables. There is a local market for the items accepted in your mixed recycling bin. 

What happens to the bin contents? 

The contents of your mixed recycling bin goes to Visy in Laverton.

Paper and cardboard is pulped. The pulp is then re-manufactured into paper products. 

 Products made from recycled paper and cardboard conserve trees, and their production uses 50 per cent less energy and 90 per cent less water than making them from new, raw resources.

Plastics can made into a range of new products, depending on their plastic type:

• Plastic (PET): new bottles.
• Plastic (HDPE): laundry bottles, plastic bollards, pallets for transporting and securing cargo, fence or barrier railing and decking board.
• Plastic (PP): new food-grade containers and casing around electric cabling.

Producing plastics from recycled materials saves around 88 per cent of the energy required to make plastic using raw materials of oil and gas.

Metals are sorted into scrap metal and aluminium. The metals are crushed, melted, purified and recast into new metal products.

Making new products from recycled steel cans helps save up to 75 per cent of the energy and 40 per cent of the water needed to make steel from the raw materials.

Your green-lidded bin food and garden bin is collected fortnightly.

Use your green bin to turn your food and garden waste into something valuable – compost. 

Composting decomposes food and garden organics using oxygen, which prevents the release of harmful gases and creates useful material, like compost and mulch. By simply putting food waste in your food and garden bin instead of the rubbish bin, you can make a big difference. 

What CAN go in?

• Meat and bones (cooked and raw)
• Seafood
• Tofu
• Eggshells
• Dairy (such as butter, cheese, yoghurt – no packaging)
• Fruit
• Vegetables (cooked and raw)
• Onions, garlic
• Rice
• Breads
• Pasta
• Cereal
• Tea, loose
• Coffee grounds, no pods
• Garden clippings (including branches & twigs)
• Grass cuttings (including weeds and flowers)
• Leaves
• Small branches (under 30cm)

Food waste can be wrapped in a single sheet of newspaper or paper towel. Newspaper and paper towel on their own cannot go in your food and garden bin. 

What CAN'T go in? 

• Plastic bags 
• Compostable and biodegradable bags 
• Food containers and packaging 
• Coffee pods
• Tea bags 
• Fruit stickers 
• Pet poo and litter 
• Nappies and wipes 
• Bricks, concrete and rubble 
• Garden tools and pots 
• Large logs (300mm+)
• Treated wood 
• Ash and soil 

Click here to search a full list of items,ordownload our four-bin factsheet(PDF, 6MB).

What happens to the bin contents?

Your food and garden waste is taken to Veolia in Bulla. It goes through screening to remove contaminants, followed by in-vessel composting using aeration which pasteurises the material in line with Australian Standard 4454. The resulting compost and mulch are used in commercial agricultural settings. 

Paper food scrap bags

To make it easier to use your food and garden bin, Council has designed and developed paper food scrap bags you can use to line your compost caddy or wrap your food scraps. You can pick up paper bags for free from the front desk at any Council+ location, which includes all Hobsons Bay libraries and the Altona Civic Centre. Residents can collect a maximum of four packs of paper bags per day (two heavyweight bags, two lightweight bags).

Residents are reminded to only use Council-provided green bins, with the Hobsons Bay logo on the front and the light-green lid. This helps the right truck collect the right bin every time.

Your purple-lidded glass bin is collected four-weekly.

The simple act of separating glass from other recyclable materials has a positive impact on overall recycling outcomes.

Most glass can be recycled over and over without any decline in quality.

Glass bottles and jars have their own bin so they don't break and lodge in other recyclables. Having a separate glass bin means more material is recycled to create useful products, rather than sent to landfill. 

How to recycle using the purple-lidded bin:

1 - Keep the lids on or put them inside the item. No need to remove the bottle rings, pourers or labels.

2 - Rinse out the container to remove any remaining food.

3 - Place the glass in the purple-lidded bin. 

What CAN go in? 

• Glass bottles
• Glass jars

What CAN'T go in?

• Drinking glasses 
• Broken crockery
• Storage and baking ware 
• Perfume bottles 
• Window glass 
• Corks

Click here to search a full list of items, or download our four-bin factsheet(PDF, 6MB).

What happens to the bin contents? 

Your glass items are processed by Visy in Laverton and Spotswood. They are sorted and crushed to produce glass cullet, which is melted and manufactured into new glass products, like bottles and jars. Leftover fine fragments are used in the production of road surfaces. 

In March 2025, we finished replacing the old general rubbish bins with new red lids. If your general rubbish bin still has a dark green lid, please contact us on 1300 179 944 to arrange a free lid swap.

Why did we swap bin lids?

The change is part of a state-wide requirement to make sure everyone in Victoria has the same coloured bin lids for the different types of waste and recycling.

The change is led by the state government who has given councils funding to make all general rubbish bin lids red.

You can learn more about the state's bin standardisation project on the Victorian Government's website. 

Please note:

• This project didn’t change your waste and recycling collection schedule.
• Other bin lids (food and garden, recycling, and glass) remain the same.
• This was the final stage in our transition to the four-bin system.
• The project was funded by the Victorian Government through the Kerbside Reform Support Fund.

Information in other languages

معلومات مهمة للمقيمين 

استبدال أغطية حاويات القمامة في شباط / فبراير 2025 

إذا كانت حاوية القمامة العامة لديك ذات غطاء أخضر داكن، فسنقوم بتبديلها بغطاء أحمر في شباط / فبراير. 

ما عليك فعله 

خلال شهر شباط / فبراير، إذا كانت حاوية القمامة العامة لديك ذات غطاء أخضر داكن، فيرجى تركها حتى الساعة 6 مساءً في اليوم الذي يتم فيه جمع القمامة. 

يرجى القيام بذلك كل أسبوع في شباط / فبراير حتى تصبح حاوية القمامة لديك ذات غطاء أحمر. إذا كانت حاوية القمامة العامة لديك ذات غطاء أحمر، فلن تحتاج إلى القيام بأي شيء.

Σημαντικές πληροφορίες για τους δημότες 

Ανταλλαγή καπακιών κάδων απορριμμάτων τον Φεβρουάριο του 2025  

Αν ο κάδος σας γενικών απορριμμάτων έχει σκούρο πράσινο καπάκι, θα το ανταλλάξουμε με ένα κόκκινο αυτόν τον Φεβρουάριο. 

Τι χρειάζεται να κάνετε εσείς 

Κατά τη διάρκεια του Φεβρουαρίου, αν έχετε κάδο γενικών απορριμμάτων με σκούρο πράσινο καπάκι, παρακαλούμε να τον αφήσετε έξω έως τις 6 μ.μ. την ημέρα αποκομιδής των απορριμμάτων σας. 

Παρακαλούμε να το κάνετε αυτό κάθε εβδομάδα του Φεβρουαρίου μέχρι ο κάδος σας να έχει κόκκινο καπάκι. Αν έχετε κάδο γενικών απορριμμάτων με κόκκινο καπάκι, δεν χρειάζεται να κάνετε τίποτα. 

Thông tin quan trọng dành cho các cư dân 

Thay nắp thùng rác vào Tháng 2, 2025  

Nếu thùng rác thường của quý vị có nắp xanh lá đậm, chúng tôi sẽ đổi nó với nắp đỏ vào tháng 2 này.  

Điều quý vị cần làm 

Trong tháng Hai, nếu quý vị có thùng rác thường có nắp xanh lá đậm, vào ngày đổ rác của quý vị hãy để nó ở ngoài cho đến 6 giờ chiều. 

Xin hãy làm điều này hàng tuần trong tháng 2 cho đến khi nào thùng rác của quý vị đã được đổi với nắp đỏ. Nếu thùng rác thường của quý vị đã có nắp đỏ thì quý vị không cần phải làm gì cả. 

Informazioni importanti per i residenti 

Sostituzione del coperchio dei bidoni dei rifiuti a febbraio 2025  

Se il tuo bidone dei rifiuti generici ha un coperchio verde scuro, nel mese di febbraio lo sostituiremo con un coperchio rosso. 

Cosa devi fare  

Se hai un bidone dei rifiuti generici con il coperchio verde scuro, ti chiediamo di lasciarlo fuori fino alle 18:00 del giorno di raccolta dell’immondizia durante il mese di febbraio. 

Ti preghiamo di farlo tutte le settimane del mese di febbraio, fino a quando il bidone non avrà un coperchio rosso. Se hai già un bidone dei rifiuti con il coperchio rosso non devi fare nulla.  

住户须知： 

关于2025年2月更换垃圾桶盖的通知 

如果您普通类垃圾桶的桶盖是深绿色的，我们会在2025年2月，把深绿色桶盖的垃圾桶换成红色桶盖的垃圾桶。  

所做事项： 

在2月内，如您有深绿色桶盖的垃圾桶，请在垃圾回收日的当天，把垃圾桶放在外面，到晚上六点为止。 

请在2月内的每周重复此操作，直到您换上了红色桶盖的垃圾桶。 

如果您已经有红色桶盖的垃圾桶，则无须理会。 

As part of our four-bin waste and recycling service, residents now dispose of their food and garden waste in their bins with light green lids (120-litre or 240-litre) that display the Hobsons Bay City Council logo on the front. This service is collected fortnightly.

However, before the four-bin service started in 2020, some of our residents were using an old style, ‘private’ 240-litre bin for their green/garden waste collection service. These bins had dark green lids and light green stickers on the front panel.

Council is no longer collecting food and garden waste from the old style, private 240L green/garden waste bins in our kerbside collection service.

You’ll need to switch over to using your new food and garden waste bins with a light green lid that we’ve supplied to households. 

Only Council-provided bins will be emptied. This helps the right truck empty the right bin every time.

Do you no longer have use for your private green waste bin? We’ll pick it up.

Please contact Council for retrieval on 9932 1000. All Council bins, including old private green bins that are damaged or can’t be easily repaired, are recycled by our local contractor. Their plastic is processed and used to make new bins.

Does your private green waste bin need one last empty before you repurpose it? We’ll come empty it.

These old bins are yours to keep if you wish. They can be good for storing garden tools or repurposed into worm farms. To arrange one final collection, please contact Council on 9932 1000.

Don’t have a light green lidded food and garden waste bin? We’ll deliver it.

Please contact Council to receive your 120-litre food and garden waste bin on 9932 1000.

Do you want to upsize your food and garden waste bin?

Click here to change the size of your food and garden waste bin (light-green lid) from 120-litre to 240-litre. There is an added annual charge for larger and additional bins.

If you have a larger food and garden waste bin, you can also choose to downsize to the 120-litre size. 

Some items cannot go in any of the four bins. This includes:

• Batteries
• Building materials
• E-waste
• Light globes
• Large furniture

Take a look at our Hard waste collection service or Other options for household waste page.

Although we do a good job of recycling household items, to conserve natural resources it is best to avoid producing waste in the first place.

Many people have already changed their daily habits and carry around a reusable coffee cup and cloth shopping bag. You can also:

•  choose to buy products with less packaging (loose apples, for example, not apples in a plastic tray and with a plastic outer wrap)

• choose products that can be locally recycled back into new products

• use beeswax cotton wraps instead of plastic food wrap

• consider eating in or taking your own lunch to work instead of taking away

• when possible, say no to straws

Be informed. We recommend always checking the plastics codes on packaging when you are shopping. Different companies use different plastics for their packaging so make a point of being informed about what you are buying. 

If you presented your bin for usual collection and it has not been emptied, please contact Council on 1300 179 944 or complete the missed bin collection online form.

Council will replace or repair your recycling bin if it has undergone normal wear and tear, or if it has been stolen. A statutory declaration may be required.

If you have lost your bin or it has been stolen or damaged, please contact Council on 1300 179 944 or report a damaged or missing bin.

Council’s waste collection contractors and disposal facilities are closed on the following days only:

• Christmas Day
• New Year’s Day
• Good Friday

On these days, regular collections will resume the following day and continue until all affected areas have been collected. Please leave your bin/s out until your bin/s have been emptied.

All other listed public holidays do not affect waste collection services.

Four-bin fact sheet - Arabic(PDF, 8MB)

(PDF, 8MB)Four-bin fact sheet - Burmese(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Croatian(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Filipino(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Greek(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Hindi(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Italian(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Karen(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Macedonian(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Maltese(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Punjabi(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Simplified Chinese(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Spanish(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Traditional Chinese(PDF, 8MB)

Four-bin fact sheet - Vietnamese(PDF, 8MB)