Recycling Qld – let’s get it sorted

Keep it loose – don't bag your recycling

Be like David ⭐ He knows to keep his recycling loose when it goes in the yellow lid bin.

Duration 0:15 |

Meet these game playing housemates. David's the reigning champ. Just like his twisting game, David keeps his recycling loose. All items go straight into the yellow lid bin. Good job David. Let's get it sorted.

It’s important to keep your recycling loose and not put it in a bag when it goes into your yellow lid bin.

These are the reasons why.

  • To keep it safe and efficient: When your recycling arrives at a material recovery facility (MRF) in bags, the people or equipment processing the recycling won’t know whether the items in the bag are recyclable, not recyclable or potentially dangerous. For safety and efficiency reasons, the bags are usually removed from the recycling stream and these valuable resources are sent to landfill.
  • To reduce damage to facility equipment: Soft plastics, like plastic bags, can’t be collected through your yellow lid bin. They can get caught in the processing equipment, causing delays and reducing the efficiency of the process.
  • To help sort and process items correctly: Placing recyclable items in paper bags can also affect the recycling process. The materials inside the bag may not be recognised correctly by sorting equipment and the materials could be sorted into the wrong recycling stream. When items are incorrectly sorted or processed it can reduce the quality of the final product.

Keep it loose, and not in a bag. Let’s get it sorted.

Resources

In this guide:

  1. Keep it loose – don't bag your recycling
  2. Get your plastics sorted
  3. Get your metals sorted
  4. Make sorting your recycling simple
  5. Get your glass sorted
  6. Get your paper and cardboard sorted
  7. The top five materials – dos and don’ts
  8. Recycling facts and myths
  9. Useful links

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