Rubbish collection (red lid)
How does this service work?
Each single dwelling should have an official Council 120L red-lid bin, while multi-unit dwellings should have shared 240L red-lid bins for the weekly collection. Subject to approval, residents in Paddington and West Woollahra may qualify for a 55L bin if a 120L bin cannot be stored on the property.
| SIZES - RED-LID GARBAGE BIN |
HEIGHT |
WIDTH |
| 55L (Paddington/West Woollahra ONLY) |
49cm |
46cm |
| 120L red-lid wheelie bin (single dwellings) |
93cm |
54.5cm |
| 240L red-lid wheelie bin (multi unit dwellings/apartments) |
106cm |
73cm |
To find your rubbish collection day, search for your property in our Rubbish Collection Day map.
What to do if your bin is lost, damaged or stolen?
If your bin has been lost, damaged or stolen, contact us online or call Council's Customer Service Centre on 9391 7000. A Customer Services Officer can assist you in placing an order and a new bin will be delivered within 7 working days.
Missed services
If your bin has not been collected for any reason on the scheduled collection day, contact us online or call Council's Customer Service on 9391 7000 and provide details. Your call will be recorded in our Customer Request System and collection arranged within 3 working days.
How to ensure your rubbish is collected
- Ensure your rubbish is presented in an official Council issued bin or it will not be collected.
- Wheel your bin to the kerb the night before service in an accessible position with the front facing the road (handles facing rear towards your house).
- Remove your bin from the kerb within 12 hours of being collected.
- Store bins on your property. Do not store bins in the street, footpath or in a back lane.
- Do not overfill your bin. Make sure the lid is closed to avoid spillage and attracting vermin.
- Do not put additional bundles or bags of garbage next to your bin. It is considered as illegal dumping, it will not be collected and could incur a fine exceeding $535.
- Do not put building materials, such as sawdust, bricks, tiles or timber, in your bin.
Additional Weekly Domestic Waste Service
If you are doing as much as you can to avoid, reduce, re-use and recycle but still believe you require an additional domestic waste service, you must go through an application process with Council. This may include a waste audit of your current bin to determine your eligibility for an additional bin. If successful, the additional service will incur an annual charge of $761.50. Prior to making an application, consider the following:
- are you placing all food scraps into your green lid bin along with garden refuse for recycling?
- are you are recycling as much as possible in your yellow-lid recycling bin?
- do you need more recycling capacity - upgrade to a 240L recycling bin?
- consider alternatives to waste disposal like composting or worm farming which can reduce waste by 50%
Where does the waste in my red-lid bin go?
Woollahra Municipal Council uses state of the art Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBT) technology to ensure less waste goes to landfill and more waste is recycled.
The purpose built Veolia MBT facility will separate all the organic content from our waste (like food scraps), and turn it into a compost product. Metals will also be recovered as part of this process and recycled.
The quality of the compost is jeopardised when hazardous items are placed in your bin. Please do not place batteries, light globes, chemicals or oils into your red-lid garbage bin as they contain harmful and toxic substances that contaminate the compost. Hazardous waste can be taken to a chemical cleanout collection for responsible disposal.
On Friday 26 October 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revoked the exemption that allowed waste treatment companies to supply mixed waste organic material to be used to rejuvenate soil on agricultural land, in plantation forests and to rehabilitate mine sites.
There will be no change to current waste collection services. Under Council’s contract with Veolia, waste will continue to be received and processed into MWOO, however diversion of general household waste from landfill will not occur as removal of the exemption means MWOO can no longer be applied to land remediation.
Using the Veolia MBT facility, in addition to all the organics captured in our green-lid bins and recycling captured in our yellow-lid recycling bins means we are well on the way to achieving the 75% waste diversion target set by the NSW State Government under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001.
Sustainable waste management starts at home, so make sure to continue separating paper, plastic, glass, metal and aluminium into your yellow-lid bin and food/garden organics into your green lid bin.
Subsidised compost bins and worms farms can also be provided to our residents who would like to take sustainable waste management one step further and compost their own organics. Please visit Compost Revolution.
Find out more about the MBT process(PDF, 15MB)
To find your rubbish collection day, search for your property in our Rubbish Collection Day map.