4 June 2025

Gunnedah Shire’s annual bin inspection has shown most of our community are doing the right thing with their recycling bin – but there is room for improvement.

Gunnedah Shire Council Manager Waste Sheridan Cameron said 65% of the recycling bins inspected had no or low levels of contamination, showing most residents know their stuff when it comes to what can go in the recycling bin.

“The majority of our community who have a bin service know what can be recycled,” Mrs Cameron said. “However, the inspection also found 14% of bins had high or gross levels of contamination.

“That’s still too high.

“The biggest culprit in recycling bins was soft plastics, including plastic bags, plastic wrap, bubble wrap and soft plastic packaging. It was found in 30% of all recycling bins inspected.

“Bagged material was the second-biggest contaminant (15%), which means unknown waste material had been placed into a plastic, textile or paper bag. Bagged items of any kind can’t be successfully recycled.

“It’s great to see that most people are keeping us green by keeping it clean, but it would be great to see 100% of people getting it right in our next annual bin inspection.”

The biggest contaminants found in recycling bins were: soft plastic (34%), bagged material (15%), tissues (11%), non-recyclable plastic (10%), food (4%), followed by textiles, foam, receipts, composite paper, coffee cups, soiled paper, wipes, metals and other items including e-waste, garden waste, nappies, non-recyclable glass, pill packets and timber.

Mrs Cameron said one of the key issues was that many people don’t know which labels to look out for when it comes to recycling items.

“It’s a common misconception that any triangular symbols with arrows on them indicate that an item can be recycled, however, only the Australasian Recycling Label is relevant. The Australasian Recycling Label will indicate specific instructions for each component of the item, e.g. the box might have a fully recyclable symbol, while the lid might have a bin symbol which represents non-recyclable.

“Have a good look at the item for the instructions.”

Appropriate bottles, cans, containers, paper and cardboard can be placed in the yellow-lid recycling bin. The contents are sent to the Recyclit Materials Recovery Facility where recyclables are sorted into different material types. Each material is then sent to another factory to be recycled into new products.

Paper and plastics are remade into new cardboard sheets and plastic bottles. Glass is crushed and used in road base. Aluminium and steel are infinitely recyclable and are turned into new items such as cans and machinery.

To find out more about your waste and recycling, visit https://www.gunnedah.nsw.gov.au/index.php/everyday-living/waste-recycling/bins

Caption: The Australasian Recycling Label will indicate specific instructions for each component of the item.

ENDS

Media and communications team contact: (02) 6740 2100 or communications@gunnedah.nsw.gov.au