Your most asked recycling questions answered

Recycling right helps create a cleaner, greener future for our region – and country.

Sunshine Coast Council Waste Education Officer Chloe Abernethy shares some commonly asked questions and answers to make recycling even easier.

Should you leave the lid on or off your plastic bottles when recycling them?

Lids off, that way we know your bottles are empty. Lids are too small to go into the recycling bin separately as they will fall through the conveyor belt and get separated with glass and become contamination.

Can your takeaway coffee cup go in the recycling bin?

No they cannot go into the recycling bin. Coffee cups are not suitable for recycling in your yellow lid bin due to the plastic film lining the inside of the cup. Coffee cups have a specialised recycling program called ‘Simply Cups’. You might see this available at 7 Elevens and shopping centres.

A great way to find a participating retailer is to download the Recycle Mate App which will direct you to the nearest drop off point.

What’s the “scrunch test,” and what does it tell you about soft plastic recycling?

We can use the scrunch test to check whether a plastic is hard or soft. When scrunched or squeezed, a hard rigid plastic will easily pop back into its original shape. Whereas, a soft plastic will scrunch easily into a ball, this indicates it’s a soft plastic and should not go in the recycling bin.

Can you recycle a greasy pizza box?

We don’t want any leftover cheese stuck to your pizza box. If the pizza box is too greasy with left over cheese stuck to it, rip off the lid to the box, place that in the recycling bin. The greasy side should go into your waste bin.

Do you need to soak recyclables to clean them properly?

No, they just need to be empty. Great recyclers rinse their bottles and containers, which means your bin at home stays nice and clean. But if you don’t have time to rinse, then that’s okay, we just need to make sure no contents are left over and the bottles and containers are completely empty.

What common household item should never go in your kerbside bin because it can cause fires?

Never bin your batteries. This includes things that have batteries inside like toys, laptops, iPads and tools. Use Recycle Mate to find your nearest drop off point. It’s free to drop these items off and it keeps our garbage truck drivers safe as batteries are a fire hazard when they go into the back of the garbage truck.

Why should you flatten cardboard boxes before putting them in the recycling bin?

This will create more space in your bin. Plus, it will move through the machinery at the Material Recovery Facility (or MRF) easier. Remember to remove any plastic or polystyrene that might be inside a cardboard box before it goes into the recycling bin. Polystyrene and soft plastic packaging is not recyclable in your yellow lid bin!

Can aluminium foil be recycled? If so, how?

Absolutely! Aluminium foil can be recycled in your yellow lid bin at home. Just scrunch it into a ball the size of your fist. If you don’t have enough, keep it underneath the sink- next to your recycling box. You can add to it over the week then when its large enough- pop it into the recycling bin.

What should you do with old clothes that are too worn to donate?

Cotton clothing and textiles can become a top liner to your worm farm. Any other worn clothing could be great for rags, reach out to your local mechanic.

Otherwise, if there is no other suitable reuse option, these items will have to go into your waste bin at home.

What plastic numbers are usually safe to recycle in your kerbside bin?

The triangles with numbers are plastic identification numbers. They don’t necessarily tell us whether something can be recycled but simply the type of plastic that item is made from. 

When it comes to recycling plastics, we only want hard plastic bottles and containers. Think of packaging items from your kitchen, bathroom and laundry. Suitable plastic bottles and containers include empty shampoo bottles, laundry detergent bottles, strawberry punnets and yogurt containers. 

Plastics we don’t want in your recycling bin include soft plastic packaging like muesli bar wrapper or chip packet. Hard plastic items that are NOT a bottle or container include plastic coat hanger, broken toy or toothpaste tube. All of these things are neither a plastic bottle nor container and cannot go into your recycling bin.

Where should you take old phones, laptops, and chargers?

Use Recycle Mate to find your nearest drop off point for old electronics.

Can you recycle broken drinking glasses or Pyrex dishes with glass bottles and jars?

No. When it comes to recycling, we only want packaging items. For glass this includes empty jam jars, juice bottles or tomato paste jars. Drinking glass or pyrex cannot be recycled in your yellow lid bin as it has a higher melting point.

Should you bag your recycling before placing it in the bin?

No, don’t bag your recyclables. Keep them loose when putting them into your recycling bin. When your recyclables go to our recycling centre, all the materials are separated into their different categories - plastics, aluminium, steel, glass, paper and cardboard. The materials need to move along the conveyor belt so machinery and staff can sort them. If your recyclables are inside a plastic bag they won’t be able to be separated.