Mixed Recycling Collection
The yellow-lid bin. Accepts rigid plastics, glass bottles, aluminium cans, steel cans, and paper together—no sorting required. The sorting happens at the materials recovery facility.
Common for:
Offices with kitchen areas, cafes collecting customer containers, any business generating bottles and cans. Adding a commingled bin typically reduces your general waste volume by 20-30%.
What goes in commingled recycling
Rigid plastic containers (bottles, tubs, containers numbered 1-7), glass bottles and jars, aluminium and steel cans, clean paper and cardboard. Items should be empty but don't need to be spotless—a quick rinse is enough.
What can't go in: soft plastics (bags, cling wrap, chip packets—these jam sorting machinery), styrofoam, coffee cups (plastic-lined), heavily contaminated items, or anything with food still in it. Contamination can spoil entire batches of recyclables.
Adding a commingled bin typically reduces your general waste volume by 20-30%. If your staff kitchen generates bottles and cans, or you serve customers who leave drink containers, this stream pays for itself.
Which size for your business
Offices with kitchen areas usually manage with 240L. Cafes collecting customer recyclables often need 660L. Shopping centre food courts and large hospitality venues go for 1100L or front-lift. Watch your first few collections—if the bin's overflowing, size up.
Available Bin Sizes
Wheelie Bins
120L Wheelie Bin
From $11/weekCompact option for very small offices. Suits businesses with minimal recyclable packaging.
Configure
240L Wheelie Bin
From $17/weekStandard office recycling bin. Handles bottles, cans, and paper from a typical workplace.
Configure
660L Wheelie Bin
From $43/weekFor hospitality and retail collecting customer recyclables. Popular cafe and restaurant choice.
Configure
1100L Wheelie Bin
From $72/weekHigh-volume recycling for food courts, large venues, and apartment buildings.
ConfigureFront-Lift Containers
Mixed Recycling Programs by Industry
Office Buildings & Business Parks
Offices are ideal candidates for commingled recycling—staff kitchens generate bottles, cans, and containers from lunches and beverages. A typical office sees 20-30% of waste diverted through commingled recycling, with the remainder split between general waste and cardboard. Size your bins based on employee count: 240L serves 20-30 employees with weekly collection. Position bins in kitchen areas, break rooms, and near coffee stations. Provide clear signage with images showing acceptable items—text-only signs get ignored. Common contamination issues in offices: coffee cups (plastic-lined, not recyclable in commingled), food-contaminated containers (rinse them first), and soft plastics (chip packets, wrappers—these jam sorting machinery). Pair your commingled bin with a general waste bin in the same location to give staff a clear choice. Regular education—quarterly emails, posters, new employee onboarding—maintains participation rates.
Cafes & Restaurants
Hospitality venues face unique recycling challenges: customer recyclables mixed with food service waste, limited back-of-house space, and contamination from food residue. Focus commingled recycling on customer-facing areas—provide bins for bottles and cans from beverages. A busy cafe serving 100-200 customers daily typically needs 660L with 2-3 times weekly collection. Contamination is your biggest challenge: customers dispose of food scraps, napkins, and coffee cups (not recyclable) in recycling bins. Combat this with clear signage, bin apertures that only accept bottles/cans, and regular monitoring. Back-of-house recycling (staff meal containers, ingredient packaging) is often cleaner but lower volume. Train staff to rinse containers before recycling—residual food contamination is a major issue. Consider separate streams: glass bottles in one bin (heavier, can break other recyclables), containers in another. Some hospitality venues find customer recycling more trouble than it's worth—assess your contamination rates before committing.
Retail & Shopping Centers
Retail recycling success depends on customer education and staff compliance. Customer-facing bins collect bottles, cans, and packaging from purchases and on-site consumption. Back-of-house bins handle product packaging, staff room recyclables, and office waste. Retail with food components (supermarkets, convenience stores, food courts) generates higher volumes—a 660L bin might need daily collection. Fashion and general merchandise retail has lighter recycling volumes—240L weekly often suffices. Position customer bins with clear signage near exits and eating areas. Shopping center tenants should coordinate with center management: shared recycling facilities reduce costs but require clear communication about acceptable items. Common retail recycling contamination: soft plastics (shopping bags, product wrapping), polystyrene packaging, and items with food residue. Educate staff that damaged products in recyclable packaging should be separated—the packaging is recyclable, the product may not be.
Healthcare & Medical Facilities
Medical facilities can implement commingled recycling in non-clinical areas: waiting rooms, staff kitchens, administrative offices. Clinical areas generate minimal recyclables suitable for commingled recycling—focus these areas on general waste and clinical waste streams. A medical center might have 240L commingled recycling in the staff room (bottles, cans from meals) and waiting area (patient beverage containers). Critical: clearly separate clinical waste from recycling. Use color-coded bins, distinct locations, and signage to prevent cross-contamination. Never place recycling bins in treatment rooms or areas handling clinical waste—the risk of accidental disposal of clinical items in recycling is too high. Train staff that any item touching bodily fluids, even if made of recyclable materials, must go in clinical waste. Medical facilities often have lower recycling rates than other sectors due to legitimate clinical waste generation, but administrative areas can achieve standard office recycling rates.
Preventing Recycling Contamination
Implement clear, visual signage at every recycling bin. Text-only labels are ineffective—use images showing acceptable items (bottles, cans, containers) and non-acceptable items (soft plastics, coffee cups, food waste). Ideally, use photos rather than icons for better recognition. Position signage at eye level, not on the bin lid where it's only seen while disposing.
Educate on the 'empty, clean, dry' rule. Recyclables should be empty (pour out liquids), clean (quick rinse removes food residue), and dry (wet items contaminate paper in mixed recycling). A bottle with liquid, a can with food residue, or a wet container can contaminate dozens of other recyclables. Emphasize that 'clean' doesn't mean sterile—a quick rinse is sufficient.
Ban soft plastics from commingled bins. Soft plastics (shopping bags, cling wrap, chip packets, bread bags) are the leading cause of processing equipment jams at recycling facilities. These items must go in general waste or, if available, soft plastics recycling programs (some supermarkets collect soft plastics separately). Clear signage highlighting 'no soft plastics' prevents this common contamination.
Address the coffee cup problem. Disposable coffee cups appear to be paper but have plastic linings that make them non-recyclable in commingled streams. Despite industry efforts to create recyclable cups, most municipal recycling can't process them. Clearly communicate: coffee cups go in general waste, not recycling. Consider switching to reusable cups or genuinely compostable alternatives if you have organics collection.
Use restricted-aperture bins for customer-facing recycling. Bins with small circular openings accept bottles and cans but reject general waste, reducing contamination. Wide-opening bins attract all waste types. This is especially important in hospitality, retail, and public areas where customer compliance is lower and monitoring is difficult.
Monitor bins regularly, especially initially. Check your recycling bins weekly in the first month: what's contaminating them? Food waste? Coffee cups? Soft plastics? Adjust your education and signage based on observed issues. Some businesses find a quick weekly audit with photos and feedback to staff dramatically improves compliance.
Pair recycling with general waste bins. Never place a recycling bin alone—always provide a nearby general waste option. If the recycling bin is full or staff are uncertain about an item, they'll dispose of it in whatever's available. Giving them a clear choice reduces contamination in recycling streams.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put soft plastics like shopping bags and chip packets in mixed recycling?
No—soft plastics are the leading cause of equipment jams at recycling facilities and must not go in commingled recycling bins. Soft plastics include shopping bags, bread bags, cling wrap, chip packets, biscuit wrappers, pasta bags, and any plastic that can be scrunched into a ball. These items tangle in sorting machinery, requiring manual removal and causing costly downtime. They must go in general waste or, if available, specialist soft plastics recycling programs. Some supermarkets (Coles, Woolworths) offer REDcycle bins for soft plastics—check if your local store participates. For businesses generating significant soft plastic waste, investigate whether your waste provider offers dedicated soft plastics collection. Otherwise, it's general waste.
Do bottles and cans need to be rinsed before recycling?
Yes—a quick rinse is important. Containers don't need to be spotlessly clean, but food residue and liquids cause problems. Food contamination attracts pests, creates odors, and can spoil other recyclables (especially paper and cardboard) in mixed recycling bins. Liquids are equally problematic: they leak during collection and contaminate paper recyclables. Rinse bottles and cans with tap water for 2-3 seconds to remove major residue—that's sufficient. Don't waste hot water or soap on them; recycling facilities further clean materials during processing. For workplaces without easy access to water (retail floors, customer areas), consider positioning recycling bins near sinks or requesting staff take containers to back-of-house areas for rinsing before disposal.
Why aren't coffee cups recyclable if they're made of paper?
Disposable coffee cups have a thin plastic (polyethylene) lining bonded to the paper to make them waterproof and heat-resistant. This plastic lining makes them incompatible with standard paper recycling processes—the lining must be separated from the paper, requiring specialized equipment unavailable at most recycling facilities. Some facilities can recycle coffee cups, but it's rare and not available in standard commingled recycling. The plastic lid is recyclable (if rigid plastic), the paper sleeve is recyclable, but the cup itself is general waste. Industry alternatives are emerging—some venues use certified compostable cups (if they have organics collection) or encourage reusable cups. For businesses serving coffee, the most sustainable options are: encouraging customers to bring reusable cups, switching to genuinely compostable cups with organics collection, or accepting that cups go to general waste.
What numbers on plastics are recyclable in commingled recycling?
The recycling number (1-7) indicates plastic type, not recyclability—this is a common misconception. In Australian commingled recycling, generally accepted plastics are rigid containers: bottles, tubs, containers, and trays. This typically includes PET (#1, drink bottles), HDPE (#2, milk bottles, shampoo bottles), and PVC, LDPE, PP, PS (#3-6, various containers). However, the rigid container rule matters more than the number: a rigid plastic bottle numbered #7 is likely acceptable, while a soft plastic bag numbered #2 is not. Polystyrene/styrofoam (#6) is technically a plastic but often excluded from commingled recycling due to contamination and processing challenges—check with your specific waste provider. When in doubt, the rule is: rigid containers yes, soft plastics and packaging no. This is clearer than memorizing numbers and leads to better recycling compliance.
Can I recycle broken glass in commingled bins?
Whole glass bottles and jars are recyclable; broken glass should generally go in general waste for safety reasons. Broken glass poses safety hazards to waste collection workers and recycling facility staff. Small pieces of broken glass also jam sorting machinery and contaminate other recyclables. If you break a glass bottle or jar, carefully collect the pieces (using gloves and dustpan), wrap them in newspaper or place in a sealed container to prevent injury, and dispose in general waste. Some waste providers offer separate glass collection where broken glass is acceptable—check with your provider. For businesses generating large quantities of glass (bars, restaurants, bottle shops), consider dedicated glass recycling bins where whole bottles are collected separately from mixed recycling. This improves recycling quality and reduces contamination and safety issues.
How can I tell if my recycling bin is being contaminated?
Regular visual audits are the most effective method. Once weekly, especially in the first month of implementing recycling, open your bin and inspect contents. Look for: soft plastics (bags, wrappers), food waste, coffee cups, napkins, general rubbish, non-recyclable packaging. If contamination exceeds 10-15% of bin contents, you have a compliance problem requiring intervention. Common solutions: improved signage with images of non-acceptable items specifically observed in your bins, staff training highlighting the exact contamination issues you're seeing, restricted-aperture bins to physically prevent large contaminants, and pairing recycling bins with general waste bins to provide alternatives. Some waste providers offer contamination reports—if your recycling is rejected or flagged for contamination, they'll typically notify you. Proactive monitoring prevents this: it's better to catch and correct contamination internally than have entire bins rejected and sent to landfill, losing your recycling cost savings.
Should I separate different types of recyclables or can they all go together?
Commingled recycling is designed for all recyclables together—that's the benefit. Plastics, glass, metals, paper, and cardboard can go in the same bin. The materials recovery facility uses automated sorting: magnets extract steel, eddy current separators remove aluminum, optical sorters identify plastic types, screens separate by size. This is more efficient than asking businesses to sort—it centralizes sorting expertise and equipment. However, there are exceptions where separation improves outcomes: businesses generating large cardboard volumes often benefit from dedicated cardboard bins (reduces contamination, optimizes collection schedules). Venues with high glass volumes (bars, restaurants) might use separate glass bins (prevents breakage contaminating other recyclables, glass is heavy and fills bins quickly). For typical offices and small businesses, commingled recycling is optimal—one bin, simple staff education, good recycling rates.
What happens if I put non-recyclables in the recycling bin by mistake?
Minor contamination (a few incorrect items) is usually removed during processing at the recycling facility. Sorting equipment and manual sorters remove obvious contaminants. However, high contamination levels (>15-20% of bin contents) can result in entire bins being rejected and sent to landfill—one person's carelessness can negate everyone else's efforts. Some waste providers charge contamination fees if recycling bins contain excessive general waste. Certain contaminants are particularly problematic: soft plastics jam machinery, liquids contaminate paper, food waste attracts pests and creates odors, and hazardous materials can cause safety incidents. Best practice: when in doubt, general waste. It's better to landfill one recyclable item than contaminate a bin of recyclables. Educate staff that recycling contamination costs money and wastes effort—the message should be 'recycle correctly or use general waste, but don't contaminate recycling bins.'
Need help choosing?
If you're not sure which size suits your business, contact us. We can advise based on your industry, staff numbers, and waste patterns.
Contact us