Recycling reminders this festive season

Published on 18 December 2018

With the festive season in full swing, Maribyrnong City Council would like to remind residents to be environmentally thoughtful during this time and seek to minimise their waste.

Initial information from bin audits conducted across municipality as part of the Recycle Right program, have shown the most common contaminants found in recycling bins are soft plastics and bagged recycling material.

During the festive season it is important to know what to recycle. Items such as: paper, cardboard, glass and plastic containers can be placed in a recycling bin. While common materials used at this time such as: silver lined wrapping paper, plastic gift bags, glass and plastic baubles, cellophane and tinsel cannot be recycled.

Council’s Bins and Recycling app contains a search function to assist residents when sorting their waste, particularly when encountering items they are not familiar with or that are not commonly used.

While the festive season is a popular time to clean out the house and make way for the new, it is important to remember to dispose of unwanted items thoughtfully. Electronic items are popular gifts during this time of the year and old mobile phones, tablets, computers and other electronic waste material can now be placed in any of Council’s 9 electronic drop-off hubs. Smaller electrical waste can be picked up from your door for free through our Thread:Collect program.

Rechargeable batteries are also a good environmental choice that can save money.

For residents with a real Christmas tree, those who have subscribed to a green waste bin can cut up their tree into smaller pieces and dispose of it this way. Alternatively, residents can book an annual hard and green waste collection.

Unwanted decorations that are in good condition can also be donated to charity shops for re-sale and re-use. Residents can also dispose of old Christmas tree lights in their local electronic hub.

And for many the festive season often means buying a lot of food, food scraps are best disposed of in a compost bin.

For more information on waste and recycling tips.

Please note that due to the public holidays over the Christmas period, bin collection will occur the next day. See below for more information.