Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Waste and Recycling Information
Download a free copy of Gympie Regional Council’s
Recycling
Recycling provides a new life to many different materials by keeping them in circulation for as long as possible. This is extremely beneficial for the environment as recycling reduces the extraction of virgin materials needed for new products, plus the amount of water and energy it takes to create them.
What’s accepted in the yellow lid recycling bin
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Examples (all items must be empty & clean) |
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Hard rigid plastic bottles & containers  |
Yogurt tubs Milk bottles Margarine tubs Strawberry punnets Rigid biscuit trays Peanut butter jars Ice cream tub Clear meat trays Shampoo bottles Laundry liquid containers |
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Glass jars & bottles   |
Pasta sauce bottles Stir fry sauce jars Jam jars Spread jars |
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Steel, aluminium cans & empty aerosol cans    |
Tomato tins Corn tins Bean tins Coffee tin Soft drink cans Empty deodorant can Empty air freshener Empty hair spray can Clean aluminium foil (must be scrunched into a ball the size of your fist) |
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Paper & Cardboard   |
Egg carton Newspaper Magazines Envelopes Junk mail Cereal box Clean pizza box Cardboard boxes (flattened) |
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Liquid paperboard (juice & milk cartons)   |
Long life milk cartons Plant-based milk cartons Poppers Juice cartons |
Material accepted
Recycling tips to help you
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Recycling Tip |
Reason |
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Size is important  |
The size of your palm is the minimum size of an item that can be recycled in the yellow lid-recycling bin. Items that are smaller than your palm will fall through the cracks on the conveyer belt at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and not be recycled.
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Remove lids  |
Lids can be made from a different material than the base and can’t be recycled attached. Lids are often too small to be recycled by themselves. If lid is smaller than palm place in waste bin, if lid is larger than can be placed in recycling bin separately. |
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Keep it clean  |
All recyclables must be empty of food or other remnants. Leaving food inside can reduce the quality of the material when it’s recycled. Eg: greasy pizza box. If there is cheese and oil attached to the base, unfortunately it must go in the waste bin. Tear off the pizza box lid and if it’s clean place that in the recycling bin. |
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Keep it loose  |
Don’t bag your recycling. Plastic bags and other soft plastics can’t go in the yellow lid recycling bin, they get tangled at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and slow down operations. |
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Use the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) as a guide to help you recycle. |
The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) is often found on packaging items in the supermarket and can assist in disposal methods.  |
What’s NOT accepted in the yellow lid recycling bin
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Reason |
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Plastic bags  |
Plastic bags will get caught in the machinery at the Material Recovery Facility. Do NOT place your recyclables in plastic bags, the staff at the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) do not have the time to open the bag and sort the recyclables, this will end up in landfill. |
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Soft plastics (chips & lolly wrappers)  |
Soft plastics are not recyclable in the yellow lid recycling bin. These items will get caught in the machinery at the MRF. |
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Garden waste  |
This material is not recyclable at the MRF and will contaminate other items. Try composting your garden waste at home instead. |
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Food waste  |
This material is not recyclable at the MRF and will contaminate other items. Put your food waste in a compost or worm farm instead. |
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Polystyrene  |
This type of plastic is not recyclable at a MRF and therefore cannot be placed in the kerbside yellow lidded recycling bin. Clean domestic polystyrene can be taken to the Gympie Waste Management Facility and placed in the polystyrene recovery collection bins in the Recycling Alley at no charge. |
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Single use coffee cups  |
These items are not recyclable in the yellow lid recycling bin. |
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Batteries  |
Due to the hazardous and corrosive nature of batteries, these items can start fires in the back of rubbish trucks and should NOT be placed in either the yellow lid recycling bin or waste bin. Please dispose of batteries by putting sticky tape over both ends of the battery, then take them to at a safe collection point, including: Aldi Bunnings Mitre 10 Woolworths Any Waste Management Facility. |
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General waste items    |
Only certain materials (hard rigid plastics, steel, aluminium, glass, paper, and cardboard) are recyclable in the yellow lid bin. Therefore, all other waste goes in the waste bin. |
MaterialWhat happens to your recycling?
Contents from your recycling bin get taken to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted into various commodities: paper, cardboard, steel, aluminium, glass and plastics.
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Be careful what you buy:
Tips to reduce food waste
- Check what you already have at home before shopping
- Buy only what you need
- Store food correctly
- Use leftovers
Think about what you throw away
Did you know that up to 50 per cent of general waste could be composted?
Food and garden waste that ends up in landfill is bad for the environment. It creates methane gas. Methane gas is a potent greenhouse gas.
Converting food and garden waste into compost for your garden has many benefits. It helps to improve soil quality and reduce weeds. It also means that your soil will keep more moisture and you’ll be less likely to use chemical fertilisers.
You can create your own compost system using a compost bin or heap in your yard. You can also use a worm farm or chickens.
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Avoid single-use plastics
Here are some tips to avoid using single-use plastics
- Use reusable shopping and produce bags
- Say yes to reusable water bottles, keep-cups, and straws
- Say no to balloons and plastic glitter
- Say no to single-use plastic utensils and plates
- Use plastic wrapping alternatives such as paper and beeswax wraps
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Once you have REDUCED and REUSED as much as you can, RECYCLING is the next best way to help our environment.
Click on the button below to see what can be recycled.