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Recycling and waste guide

Read our standard guide to recycling and waste to find about what goes in which bin, what you can recycle and how to dispose of different types of waste.

Community update - Temporary change to household recycling

Council's waste contractor Veolia Environmental Services has temporarily suspended the processing of recyclables until further notice, due to market forces associated with the recent bushfires.

Household bin collection will continue as usual. However, this means that commingled materials collected in yellow-bins on a fortnightly will be sent to landfill in the short-term. Residents can help minimise waste to landfill by:

- Continuing to reduce, reuse and recycle to help reduce the amount of waste produced in the first instance.
- Compact your recyclables and wait until your recycling bin is full before putting it out.
- Drop off sorted recyclables like paper and cardboard, glass bottles and jars, and steel and aluminium based cans, tins and empty aerosol containers at transfer stations in Castlemaine and Maldon for recycling for free.

Read our community update
Find out more about our transfer stations
Find out more on how to sort your load before you go

What goes in which bin?

  • What materials can I place in my garbage bin?
  • Household waste, non-compostable food waste, (meat, fish, poultry, scraps and bones)
  • Nappies
  • Polystyrene or foam trays
  • Broken glassware and crockery
  • Broken mirrors, incandescent light bulbs and glass
  • What materials can’t I place in my garbage bin?
  • DO NOT place any of the following items in your garbage bin:
  • Garden clippings, lawn clippings or weeds
  • Syringes
  • Gas bottles
  • Paints or solvents
  • Bricks, rubble, timber or tiles
  • Pesticides or chemicals
  • What can I recycle?
  • Steel cans including aerosol cans, aluminium cans and aluminium foil
  • Milk, juice and egg cartons
  • Cardboard and paper
  • Glass bottles and jars
  • Plastic containers and bottles (codes 1 – 7)
  • Tip: Give your recyclables a quick scrape or rinse before they go in the bin, just to remove excess food.
  • What can’t I recycle?
  • DO NOT place any of the following items in your recycling bin:
  • Plastic wrap, bags or packaging
  • Syringes
  • Food waste
  • Clothing and material
  • Polystyrene
  • Household waste
  • Green waste - garden or lawn clippings
  • Broken glass, mirror or ceramics
  • Light globes
  • Nappies

Recyclables that can't go in your household bin

There are some items that cannot go in your household recycling bin that can still be recycled if you take them to the right place. See a list of these items and their drop off locations below.

Phones: Council office
Batteries: Council office, Mount Alexander Sustainability Group, Winters Flat Primary School, Campbells Creek Primary School, Chewton Primary School and Castlemaine Primary School.
Print cartridges: For a list of all businesses collecting print cartridges visit Recycling Near You

Light bulbs: Council office, Mount Alexander Sustainability Group and Castlemaine Landfill.
White goodsTake to Castlemaine Waste Facility for recycling (fees apply)
Gas bottles: Take to Castlemaine Waste Facility for recycling (fees apply)
Plastic bags: For a list of locations collecting plastic bags visiting Recycling Near You

If you would like more information about recycling, please read our Guide to Residential Recycling and Waste Services. It has a comprehensive list of waste products and how to dispose of them.

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