Waste and recycling over the break

Do the right thing over the festive season and only fill your FOGO bin with food and garden waste, recycle what you can, and only put landfill-destined items in the red-lid bin. If you are unsure where something belongs, check the A-Z Recycling Guide or download the Wollongong Waste app.

Here’s some essential waste and recycling information for the festive break.

Kerbside collections

Kerbside bin collections will continue as normal over the festive season, with the exception of Christmas Day.

If your bins are normally collected on Wednesdays, please place them on the kerb as normal and we’ll come by to collect them either that day or the next. If your bin isn’t collected on it’s usual day, rest assured we are on our way!

The Wollongong Waste and Resource Recovery Park (including the Community Recycling Centre) is only closed on Christmas Day. Otherwise, its hours of operation over the festive season will be 7.30am to 4.30pm on weekdays, and 8am to 4pm on weekends and public holidays.

Cardboard, recycling and soft plastic drop-offs

What can you bring? 

• Flattened cardboard.
• Steel and tin cans.
• Aluminium cans, trays and clean foil.
• Rigid plastic containers, including lids.
• Glass bottles and jars.
• Milk and juice cartons.
• Soft plastics that can easily be scrunched into a ball like plastic bags, snack and chip packets, pasta, bread and rice bags, cling and bubble wrap, mail sachets and courier bags, and pet food bags.

What will not be accepted? 

• Wrapping paper.
• Polystyrene foam.
• Food-soiled cardboard.
• Unflattened cardboard boxes.
• General waste.
• Food organics and garden organics.
• Clothing and linen.

Wrapping paper

Large pieces of plain wrapping paper can be scrunched into a ball and recycled in your yellow-lid bin.

Metallic or glitter wrapping paper cannot be recycled and should go in your red-lid bin

Leftovers and FOGO

The festive season is paradise for FOGO, your green-lidded Food Organics Garden Organics bin. All food waste and garden waste can go into your FOGO bin (just make sure your bin lid can close).

This includes:

• Ham bones.
• Seafood and shells.
• Plate scrapings.
• Real Christmas trees (NOTE: Trees must be cut into lengths so the lid can close. Fake Christmas trees belong in your red-lid rubbish bin).

Tip: If you’re worried about the smell from food scraps and prawn heads, put the food scraps and shells into a FOGO caddy liner and place in the freezer. You can then put this entire frozen FOGO bag into your green-lidded wheely bin on collection day. Additional caddy liners can be collected from Wollongong City Libraries.

Remember, if it’s food, it’s FOGO.

For information on our other services, see Council services over Christmas and New Years