Weekly Collection

Willoughby Council will empty three different bins once a week for you. Just put your bin on the nature strip the night before collection day when it’s full.

To make sure your bins are emptied, please note the following:

  • Put your bin out the night before your collection day.
  • Only bins issued by Council can be emptied. We can’t take away garbage bags.
  • Keep your three bins one metre apart from each other.
  • Overflowing bins won’t be emptied. The lid must close properly due to health reasons.
  • All waste must be placed inside the bins. Items placed next to bins will not be collected. 
  • If you put items in the wrong bin, that bin can’t be emptied. Check below to see what rubbish goes where.
  • Please remove your empty bin from the nature strip as soon as is practical.

Garbage not collected?

If your garbage doesn’t get picked up, wait until the day after your usual collection day. The truck could just be running late. If your garbage still isn’t collected, call Council on 9777 1000 to report the missed service. You will need to give us your name, address and contact phone number, and tell us which service was missed and where the bin is.

Bin Colours

State laws now require that all garbage and recycling bins are the same through all NSW council areas. Willoughby City Council will be updating bin lids as they need replacing.

General waste - Red Lid

General Garbage BinThis bin is for waste that can’t be composted or recycled through the other weekly services. Bins weighing more than sixty kilograms cannot be emptied.

The following materials are not to be put in the general garbage bin:

  • Vegetation (put it in the vegetation bin with the green lid)
  • Ashes, either hot or cold
  • Liquids like paint, oil or chemicals
  • Building materials like concrete, bricks and sawdust
  • Large pieces of metal
  • Tree stumps
  • Excavated material such as soil, sand or stones.

Recycling Bin – Yellow Lid

This bin is for recyclable items. Please rinse out all containers. Paper labels on jars and cans can stay; just no food bits please!

The following materials go in your recycling bin:

  • All disposable plastic containers from the kitchen, bathroom and laundry (please remove lids and dispose of with general garbage)
  • Glass bottles and jars that are clear, brown or green (please remove lids and dispose of with general garbage)
  • Aluminium cans
  • Steel cans
  • Milk cartons, Tetra Paks, and Poppers
  • Aerosal cans
  • Paper, newspapers, magazines
  • Cardboard

Don’t put in the following:

  • Plastic bags and plastic wrap
  • Window or mirror glass
  • Plastic toys
  • Crockery or porcelain (plates and mugs) 
  • Drinking glasses
  • Light bulbs
  • Pizza boxes (unless clean)
  • Meat trays
  • Foam or Styrofoam
  • Bubble wrap
  • Wax-coated fruit boxes
  • Paint tins

Vegetation Bin – Green Lid

Vegetation BinThis bin is for garden material only, as what goes in this bin is composted. Bins weighing over eighty kilograms can’t be emptied.

The following items can go in the vegetation bin:

  • Grass cuttings (but put it in last or it is likely to stick to the bottom of your bin)
  • Leaves and twigs
  • Prunings
  • Weeds
  • Tree loppings (must be less than 50 mm in diameter and 400 mm in length)
  • Dead flowers

These items can’t go in the vegetation bin:

  • Plastic bags
  • Building timber
  • Tree stumps or loppings bigger than the above
  • Treated, painted or stained timber
  • Other general household waste
  • Fence posts