Your four bins

four bins kerbside with different coloured lids

Residential properties in Hobsons Bay should all have access to the four standard bins:

Rubbish - red lid
Mixed recycling - yellow lid
Food and garden - light green lid
Glass - purple lid

Not sure which bin it goes in? Use our search tool:

Find out more about your four bins below.

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Rubbish bin (red lid)

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Mixed recycling bin (yellow lid)

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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:

Check the item you are discarding is accepted in the mixed recycling bin.
Tip, rinse or scrape out any obvious solids or liquids from the container – they must be empty.
Crush plastic bottles and replace the lid. 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

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 garbage.
Empty toilet paper rolls
UHT/Tetra Pak

Paper products

Advertising material: catalogues, flyers
Office paper
Shredded paper, if it is enclosed in a paper bag or cardboard box, such as a shoebox
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

Plastics codes 1, 2 & 5

Drink bottles - codes 1 and 2
Shampoo bottles - codes 1 and 2
Laundry detergent bottles - codes 1 and 2
Milk bottles - code 2
Food containers (eg. margarine, yoghurt or ice cream containers) – code 5

What CAN'T go in?

Plastic codes 3, 4, 6 & 7
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.

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 code 1 (PET): new bottles.
Plastic code 2 (HDPE): laundry bottles, plastic bollards, pallets for transporting and securing cargo, fence or barrier railing and decking board.
Plastic code 5 (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.

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Food and garden bin (light green lid)

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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.

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. Every Hobsons Bay resident can register to try their first pack for free. Head to the website to order yours then pick up your bags from one of our Council Plus locations.

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.

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Glass bin (purple lid)

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Non-standard bins

Before we standardised the waste and recycling service, there were some other bin types in circulation. Most of these have since been switched over. Still have a non-standard bin? Click below for more information.

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Rubbish bin (dark green lid)

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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。

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Private green waste bin

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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.