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Your bins: waste, recycling & organics

The City of Marion's kerbside waste and recycling collection system consists of three bins:

Yellow Bin - Recycling - 240 litre - Collected fortnightly
Green Bin - Organics - 240 litre - Collected fortnightly on the alternate week to recycling
Red Bin - Garbage - 140 litre - Collected weekly

Banned from all household bins (red, yellow & green)
  • Batteries
  • Electrical items (eg. kettles, toasters, portable fans)
  • Light globes
  • All liquid waste (including motor and cooking oil)
  • Building waste (eg. bricks, concrete, soil, rocks)
  • Hot ashes
  • Chemicals and poisons
  • Liquid paint
  • Medical waste (eg. pills, x-rays, syringes)
  • Flares, ammunitions and explosives
  • Vehicle parts
  • Gas cylinders
  • Bulk garden waste (eg. tree stumps)

Visit our Other Waste page for advice on disposing of most items listed above.

For bulk garden waste, visit our Hard waste collections page to get advice on tip tickets for free disposal.

Recycling bin (yellow lid)

What goes in the recycling bin?
  • Clean paper and cardboard
  • Juice and milk cartons
  • Glass bottles and jars (lids off)
  • Cans and tins
  • Metal lids including wine and beer bottle caps can go loose in the bin
  • Aerosol cans (empty)
  • Aluminium foil and trays (clean and collected into at least a fist-sized ball).
  • All rigid plastic containers (eg. milk bottles, shampoo and detergent bottles, ice cream and yoghurt containers, plastic plant pots)
  • Plastic lids can remain on empty plastic containers including milk and juice bottles. They do not need to be collected in another container.
Recycling tips
  • Ensure containers are empty (rinse or scrape out any leftover food or drink).

  • Place all items loose in the bin, so the recycling machines can sort them properly. Items inside or boxes cannot be sorted and go to landfill.

  • Flatten all cardboard boxes

  • Remove plastic wrap from newspapers and magazines

  • Remove metal lids from glass jars and bottles and place these loose in the yellow bin

  • Put plastic lids back on the plastic bottles and containers for recycling

What can't go in the recycling bin?
  • No soft plastic bags, bin liners, wrappers or packets
  • No bagged items
  • No clothes or shoes
  • No pillows, cushions, quilts or blankets
  • No polystyrene foam trays, cups or packaging
  • No nappies
  • No food or drink in containers or bottles
  • No light globes, mirrors or window glass
  • No crockery
  • No ropes or hoses
  • No wooden items
  • No electrical appliances or batteries - these are dangerous in bins and need to be taken to a recycler
What happens to my recycling after it's collected?

The truck which empties all the recycling bins transports the materials to the Southern Materials Recovery Facility (SMRF) at Seaford Heights.

The SMRF uses automated machinery to separate and sort all of the yellow bin materials into different categories or 'streams' of mixed paper and cardboard, steel, aluminium, glass, and five grades of rigid plastics.

After the materials have all been sorted, they are crushed into bales and transported to various manufacturers where they are reprocessed into new products such as glass jars, plastic containers, cardboard packaging and steel products.

It is important that you follow the recycling guidelines to help reduce contamination of the recycling products and ensure the safety of those working on the sorting lines.

What Goes In Recycling Bin

Organics bin (green lid)

What goes in the organics bin?
  • Food scraps
  • Garden prunings and cuttings
  • Small branches (up to 60cm length and 10cm diameter)
  • Lawn clippings
  • Leaves
  • Weeds
  • Cut flowers
  • Pet poo (never in plastic bags)
  • Shredded paper
  • Paper towel and tissues
  • Pizza boxes
  • Hair

What food scraps can go in the green bin?

  • Fruit & vegetable peelings
  • Takeaway foods
  • Cooked leftovers
  • Teabags & coffee grounds
  • Seafood (cooked or raw)
  • Meat and bones (cooked or raw)
  • Egg shells, seafood shells and nut shells
  • Bread, cake and biscuits
  • Grains & pasta
  • Cheese and yoghurt

The green bags available from Council for use in the kitchen caddies are made from 100% plant-based material which is certified compostable to go in the organics bin. Find out more about kitchen caddies and compostable bags available for recycling food scraps on our Food waste page.

What can't go in the organics bin?
  • No plastic bags or bin liners
  • No soil bags
  • No rubble, stones, rocks or bricks
  • No dirt, soil or sand
  • No tree stumps
  • No gardening tools or hoses
  • No plant pots or trays
  • No painted or treated timber
What Goes In Organics Bin

Waste bin (red lid)

What goes in the waste bin?

Your waste bin (red lid) is for general household rubbish that cannot go in the recycling or organics bins, including:


  • Soft plastics (eg. plastic wrap, cling film, magazine sleeves, plastic bags, bin liners)
  • Nappies
  • Kitty litter (wrapped)
  • Clothing and rags
  • Rope
  • Garden hoses
  • Broken glassware and crockery (wrapped)
  • Polystyrene and foam packaging
  • Bubble wrap and plastic strapping


What Goes In Waste Bin