Australian Bin Lid Colours: What Goes in Each Bin

AS 4123 is the Australian Standard covering mobile waste containers. Its colour code pairs a dark green or black bin body with a coloured lid, so the lid alone tells you the stream. The three core colours are red for general waste, yellow for recycling and lime green for food and garden organics. Most councils adopted the standard years ago, but some older fleets still use an all-green body with a coloured lid, or a green body with a dark lid for general waste in areas that have not yet transitioned.

The red-lidded bin is for anything that cannot be recycled or composted: nappies, polystyrene, soft plastics that are not accepted through a REDcycle-style program, broken ceramics, kitty litter and vacuum dust. It is collected weekly in most council areas and sent to landfill.

Two rules catch people out. First, do not bag your general waste in a tied-up bag inside the bin if your council asks for loose rubbish — check your council's page. Second, never put hazardous items in the red bin: batteries, paint, chemicals, gas bottles and fluorescent tubes can cause fires in collection trucks and must go to a household chemical or e-waste drop-off point instead.

The yellow-lidded bin is for household recyclables, almost always collected fortnightly. The near-universal rule of thumb is: rigid plastic bottles and containers, aluminium and steel cans, glass bottles and jars, paper and cardboard. Everything must be loose, empty and dry — never bagged.

The classic exclusions are soft plastics (bags, cling film, chip packets), polystyrene, broken glassware and crockery, and food-soiled cardboard. Pizza boxes are usually accepted if you scrape off the food and tear away greasy sections. Lids-on versus lids-off for bottles varies by council, so check locally.

The lime-green-lidded bin is the organics bin. Where a council runs a full FOGO (food organics and garden organics) service, it takes grass clippings, prunings, leaves, weeds plus all food scraps — including meat, bones, dairy and citrus. Councils without FOGO run a garden-only service that excludes food waste.

Only compostable items belong here. No plastic bags of any kind, no 'biodegradable' plastics, no nappies, no pet waste in most council areas, and no large branches or soil. Many councils supply a kitchen caddy and accept AS 4736-certified compostable liners. See our green waste and FOGO guide for the detail by state.

Victoria's circular economy reforms added a fourth, purple-lidded bin for glass bottles and jars, rolled out progressively across the state through the early 2020s. Separating glass keeps paper and plastic in the yellow bin cleaner and dramatically improves recycling quality. Some South Australian councils have also trialled purple glass bins.

If you have a purple bin, glass no longer goes in the yellow bin. The purple service is often monthly rather than fortnightly, which surprises new arrivals.

• Bagging recyclables — bags jam the sorting machines, so the whole load can be sent to landfill.
• Soft plastics in the yellow bin — bags, wrappers and film belong in general waste.
• Food-soiled containers — a quick scrape and rinse is enough; they do not need to be spotless.
• Plastic bags in the green bin — only AS 4736-certified compostable liners are accepted where liners are allowed at all.
• Batteries and e-waste in any kerbside bin — they are a genuine fire risk in trucks and at facilities.
• Overfilling or overweight bins — the lid must close flat, and most councils enforce a 70–80 kg weight limit.

The colours are standard; the details are not. Victoria has the four-bin system including purple glass. New South Wales councils mostly run three bins, with FOGO expanding rapidly. Queensland has a three-bin standard but many south-east councils still offer green waste only as an opt-in paid service. Western Australia rolled out a three-bin FOGO system across Perth and the South West, while South Australia has long combined food scraps with garden waste in the green bin. Tasmania, the ACT and the NT each have their own rollout timelines. Whatever the lid colours, your council's A-to-Z guide is the final word — and knowing your collection day is half the battle, which is where BinMinder's free reminders come in.