Recycling and waste

Why we’re doing this

You may not think about the impact of the waste you throw out, but collectively it’s huge.

If we don’t make changes to how we manage waste, by 2030 we’ll be sending over 100,000 tonnes of waste to landfill every year.

When waste is buried, it decomposes over time and emits greenhouse gases, mainly methane. Methane is 25 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, so it’s vital we act now to reduce waste and its impact on our climate.

More importantly, waste is a valuable resource that’s linked to energy, water and our natural resources. Sending waste to landfill means that valuable resources and materials used to produce products are lost forever and we need to keep replacing them from more raw materials and resources.

How we can achieve this

As a local resident there’s a lot you can do to keep Sydney clean and green.

By applying the 4 Rs – Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle – you're helping us minimise the waste that goes to landfill. Try to avoid generating waste, and where waste is unavoidable try to reduce what you dispose of by re-using and repurposing any material.

Many of you are reducing waste across the local area by:

• using the right bins for your weekly waste collection
• recycling your electronics
• recycling household chemicals
• booking a pick-up for bulky household items and e-waste.

We can all do our bit to let nothing go to waste.

If you're a business, please refer to our waste and recycling information for businesses.