Frequently Asked Questions
Can’t find what you’re looking for? Refer to some frequently asked questions below or contact us to find out more.
Q. Who will be collecting the bins?
A. Council will be contracting the collection services of JJ’s Waste and Recycling for both recycling and general waste collections. Your recycling bin will be collected in a different truck to your general waste bin.
Q. When will I receive my new bins?
A. The bins will be rolling out in the week commencing Monday 28 November 2022. Do not start using your bin until the service commences in the first week of January 2023.
Q. When will the service commence?
A. The new service will start collecting your bins in the week commencing Monday 2 January 2023. Collections occur on a Week 1/Week 2 schedule, meaning that your bin will be collected fortnightly on either the Week 1 (Starting Monday 2 January) or Week 2 (Monday 9 January). All households will receive a letter providing further information on recycling bin collection. A sticker will be placed on the side of your new recycling bin indicating your week and collection day. Take note of this information and familiarise yourself with your first collection. You could also visit the Council website or download the SBRC Recyclopedia app.
Q. Why is Council starting a recycling service when some residents didn’t want to pay for it?
A. State and Federal government departments set targets relating to waste to landfill, and resources recovered. The federal and state governments have ambitious targets to divert recycling from being landfilled and that is why they are imposing targets to the local governments. It is impossible for us to meet those targets without more kerbside bins to divert material from landfill. SBRC has to comply with the changing legislation to meet government requirements. It will cost us more down the track if we do nothing.
Q. How much is my bin going to cost?
A. The new bins related to the recycling service will be delivered at no extra cost.
Q. Why do we, as residents, have to pay for this service?
A. All materials going to the landfill are subject to the waste levy to be paid by Council to the state government. SBRC has to recover these costs from the residents. Introduction of the recycling bin helps reduce levy payment to the state government. The money saved by Council in terms of less amount paid to the state government is already considered in the calculation of the price for the recycling bin service.
Q. Is this service financially beneficial at all?
A. The introduction of the recycling bin helps reduce the waste levy payments that SBRC has to make to the state government. The introduction of recycling will also help Council claim funding (when available) from the state government for implementation of a variety of projects/initiatives for local residents. This may include upgrades to the existing waste facilities and introduction of more recycling alternatives, etc, which mean a better customer experience.
Q. How were the costs of the new service calculated?
A. In order to calculate the cost of the new recycling service, the following factors were considered:
- Cost of the new recycling bin
- Cost of collection service on a fortnightly basis
- Transportation to the Material Recovery Facility
- Recycling processing cost at a Material Recovery Facility
- Potential savings of state government levy due to diversion of recycling materials from being landfilled
Q. Why do I need to recycle?
A. Recycling your waste diverts materials from the landfill. An average of approximately 32% of materials in your General Waste bin were found to be recyclable items in a 2021 study. These materials can all be diverted from landfills. Materials that end up in landfill are never used again and are a huge waste of resources. By recycling our materials, we can avoid having to strip the raw materials from the earth. This in turn reduces pollution caused in the collection, distribution and processing of raw materials.
Q. How often will my bin be collected?
A. The new yellow-lid recycling bins will be picked up fortnightly. Your general waste bin will still be collected weekly.
Q. What day will my bin be collected?
A. Your bin will be collected fortnightly on the same day as your general waste bin. The South Burnett will be divided into two collection weeks (Week 1 and Week 2). This means that your bin will be collected fortnightly on either the Week 1 (Starting Monday 2 January) or Week 2 (Monday 9 January). Across the South Burnett, collections will be occurring every weekday. All households will receive a letter when the bins are delivered providing further information on recycling bin collection. A sticker will be placed on the side of your new recycling bin indicating your week and collection day. Take note of this information and familiarise yourself with your first collection day. You could also visit the Council website or download the SBRC Recyclopedia app.
Q. What can I put in my new yellow-lid bin?
A. Plastic bottles, punnets and tubs; steel cans; aluminium cans; glass bottles and jars; and paper cartons, newspaper, magazines, and cardboard boxes. All containers should be empty and dry. Aerosols need to be empty. All articles shall be loose (not bundled together or in a plastic bag)
Q. What can’t go in my recycling bin?
A. Anything other than the above cannot go in. No plastic bags, bottlecaps, food, toys, appliances, medical waste, batteries, or textiles like clothes and shoes. Garden waste, nappies, tissues and paper towels, building materials and household appliances are also unacceptable contaminants.
Q. How should I separate my recyclables in the house?
A. Get creative with it! Use a cardboard box, an old washing basket, a tub, and get the kids to paint it. Recyclables should be rinsed before disposal so there’s no need for a plastic liner. It will make it easier if you have a recycling bin next to every general waste bin in your house so you can separate straight from the source.
Q. Should I bag my recyclables before putting them into my wheelie bin?
A. No, all recyclable items should be placed loose into the bin. We recommend having a bin inside your home which you tip into your recycling bin regularly.
Q. Where does our recycling go?
A. All the recycling from the South Burnett region will be taken to the Materials Recovery Facility in Cherbourg. There, sorting machines will separate materials into the 5 main categories – paper and cardboard, plastic, steel, aluminium, and glass. MRF workers will attempt to remove any large contaminants or bagged materials with their hands, so it is important we are disposing of our waste safely. The output is then baled up and loaded onto trucks and sold for recycling projects. Recycling has created local opportunities and jobs in the region.
Q. What will happen if I don’t put the right thing in my bin?
A. Putting the wrong things in the recycling bin will reduce the quality of the product. Items need to be separated into material types when they enter the Material Recycling Facility. Having contaminants go through the sorting machines will cause the output to be mixed. For example, paper is sorted by its lightweight properties – which is mimicked by plastic film. If significant amounts of plastic film end up in the paper output, it makes the recycling process more difficult. It can also cause machines to break over time, which costs us more money to replace.
Q. How are materials separated at the Materials Recycling Facility?
A. Material types are separated by their properties. Glass is smashed by star screen, steel is separated by a magnet, aluminium is separated by an eddy current, paper is separated by its lightweight properties in a rotating cylinder, plastic bounces through the machines and is identified and separated by a laser and strong shot of air. Contaminants that mimic these properties end up in the wrong output and ruin the end product.
Q. Are there any waste education lessons/activities/workshops happening?
A. We have waste educators delivering lessons to schools on how to recycle their waste. This will happen over the last week of November, the second week of February, and the second week of May. Community workshops will also occur during these weeks where members of the community can learn from waste educators and ask any questions they may have about the service. Refer to the Council website for any dates.
Q. Is there anything more I can be doing to reduce my waste?
A. A study was conducted in 2021 that found organic materials make up approximately 32% of the average general waste bin in the South Burnett. You can divert food/garden materials from the landfill by putting them in a compost bin, worm farm, or feeding them to your pet. More materials can also be recovered at Waste Transfer Facilities including batteries, oil, paint, tyres, electronic waste, garden waste, mattresses, timber, metal, etc. Refer to the Council app or website for more information.
Q. What is the best way to stay up to date with my bin day?
A. The SBRC Recyclopedia smart phone app is available for download on your phone’s App store and Council’s website. This app provides information on your collection day, local waste and recycling facilities, and an A-Z of what waste can go in which bin. You can also use the app to set reminders for your bin collection day and manage waste requests to Council.
Q. Is this service compulsory?
A. All eligible ratepayers will be delivered a recycling bin free of charge and collection trucks will service all presented bins. If your bin is not presented to the kerbside on your collection day, it will not be serviced.
Q. How do I get further information?
A. All households have been provided with a flipchart flyer with information regarding acceptable materials and contaminants. Council also has a website on waste services and an app called SBRC Recyclopedia which provides all relevant information and services.
Q. I work at a business/school, do I automatically receive a yellow-lid bin too?
A. All eligible ratepayers will be delivered a recycling bin free of charge and collection trucks will service all presented bins. If you are a business and need more than one bin, you can order extra bins. Please visit the Waste mobile app – Recyclopedia or contact the Council directly.
Q. Will I still be able to recycle if I can’t receive a yellow-lid bin?
A. Yes, recycling bins will be available at all waste transfer stations. These bins will be collected by the same recycling trucks servicing kerbside bins and will be delivered to the Material Recycling Facility for processing.
Q. Can I get a second yellow-lidded bin?
A. If you are finding that your bin is filling up too fast, you are welcome to request a second bin just as you would for your general waste service. This can be done through the SBRC Recyclopedia app, or through the Council website. Alternatively, you can try saving space by ensuring all recycled boxes have been flattened, and that items are being placed in the bin loose.
Q. Where does my General Waste go?
A. All General Waste collected from the kerbside is taken to the nearest landfill for disposal.
Q. What times can I visit Transfer Stations?
A. Refer to the Locations and Operating Hours table.