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Christmas which list – naughty or nice?

Use Vin’s handy lists for wanted ‘nice’ and unwanted ‘naughty’ bin choices over the festive season.

Nice

Putting food scraps in the green bin 

All food scraps and unwanted leftovers, including citrus, onion, dairy, meat, bones, fish, fruit and vegetable scraps can all be recycled through your green organics bin.

If you’re worried about the smell or bugs, check out these tips.

Putting wrapping paper, cards and cardboard packaging in the yellow bin

Wrapping paper (paper only, not cellophane), cards and cardboard packaging can all be recycled through your yellow recycling bin.

Cellophane wrap should be placed in your red/blue landfill bin.

Using reusable dinnerware and cutlery 

It’s always best to choose reusable, but we get that the thought of washing dishes for your entire extended family can be daunting – and in some cases you may not even own enough dishes for everyone coming around.

So if you do use disposable items this festive season, opt for the compostable kind. That way you can place them straight into your green organics bin along with any food scraps and serviettes left on them.

To check that an item is certified compostable, look for the AS 4736 certification symbol:

Naughty

Putting soft plastics in the yellow bin

Soft plastics cannot be recycled through your yellow recycling bin – they should be placed in your red/blue landfill bin only.

Putting batteries in the yellow bin

Batteries are not recyclable through your yellow recycling bin, but can be recycled by taking them to one of these drop-off points.

If you can’t drop your batteries off, they can be placed in your landfill bin – except for lead acid batteries, which must be recycled at an auto part retailer or service station.

Placing batteries in your landfill bin should be a last resort, as some types of batteries may cause a fire in the waste truck. The risk of a fire starting is increased when batteries are incorrectly placed in your yellow recycling bin or green organics bin.

Putting polystyrene packaging in the yellow bin

Expanded polystyrene (EPS), also known as Styrofoam, is used to produce items like meat trays and foam packaging, and cannot be recycled through your yellow recycling bin.

Styrofoam used for packaging things like electronics, furniture and homewares can be recycled by taking it to one of these drop-off points.

Foam meat trays and any packaging foam you can’t drop at a recycling centre should be placed in your red/blue landfill bin.