During the week beginning Monday 17 October, Council will commence a bin inspection program, to improve recycling behaviours and minimise contamination.
inspectors will look for contamination and non-recyclable items in the recycling and garden waste bins. Each bin will then be tagged with a sticker to inform residents of the inspection's outcome and provide education on how to recycle correctly.
recycle bin tags
garden waste tags
The tags have either a sad face sticker if the bin is found to be contaminated or a happy face sticker if there was no contamination. Regardless of the outcome, the bin will still be emptied.
Is the customer referring to a pink sticker on the bin?
Why do we conduct bin inspections?
Visual inspections of bins allow our collection contractors (JJs) to provide households with direct feedback on their waste disposal behaviors and gather contamination data for targeted education campaigns.
People often don’t know that they are doing the wrong thing, so conducting bin inspections provides us with the opportunity to let people know how they can use their bins properly.
What is the inspection process?
All bins that have been inspected will receive feedback on whether the items in the bin are correct. If everything in the bin is acceptable, a ‘yellow’ bin tag will be placed on the bin. If there was unacceptable material (contamination), a ‘red’ tag identifying the unacceptable material will be placed on the bin.
I received a tag on the top of my bin telling me that I had put the wrong things in my bin
The warning tag is a friendly reminder of what cannot go into the recycling bin. The resident's bin will still be collected but please let them know not to put that material into the bin again.
Is this an invasion of privacy?
Our professional inspectors conduct a quick visual inspection of the contents of the bin. They do not seek to look at any personal information, they are simply looking for any materials that may be contaminating the bin. The visual inspections allow us to provide on the spot education to the resident about how to properly use their bin.
Will I be fined, or my bin not collected?
No one will be fined or charged any money from the inspections. All bins will still be collected unless they contain hazardous or dangerous materials which the collection contractor will notify the resident of any issues.