What can I put in each bin?Your GO bin is designed for all organic material that has grown in your garden or on your property. This includes:
- Weeds
- Garden clippings
- Twigs and sticks
- Pruning, cuttings and trimmings
- Palm fronds and leaves etc.
Food waste and mass amounts of sand are not acceptable in the GO bin. The contents will be sent to a composting facility where it will be processed into compost for use on farms, parks, and gardens.
Please note: there is a 70kg weight limit on all bins.
To find a detailed list on what to do with your waste visit Recycle Right.
Your recycling bin is for recyclables such as:
- Aluminium and steel cans
- Cardboard - boxes, egg cartons and inner tubes from toilet roll and paper towel, milk/juice cartons (not silver lined UHT long life cartons)
- Paper - newspaper, paper bags, computer paper, envelopes, magazines, junk mail, paper wrapping paper (not shredded paper)
- Plastic bottles and containers without lids (no polystyrene foam or meat trays)
- Glass - bottles and jars (remove lids, metal lids go in recycling bin)
All items should be empty, rinsed, and dry. Remove lids and place in the bin loose (small lids to be placed in general waste bin).
Do not place recyclables in bin bags.
Please note: there is a 70kg weight limit on all bins.
The contents of this bin are sent to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted and sent to manufacturers to be recycled into new products. To see inside the Bibra Lake’s MRF, check out Veolia’s online tour.
The City highly encourages residents to participate in the WA Containers for Change program that refunds ten cents for approved recyclable containers > https://www.containersforchange.com.au/wa.
Your general waste bin should always be a last resort. This bin is for:
- Non-recyclable general waste
- Food scraps
- Items contaminated with food, such as paper towels, serviettes, tissues, paper plates, soiled pizza boxes and fish and chip paper
- Nappies/ sanitary items
- Shredded paper
- Clothing that cannot be sent to charity
- Soft plastics
- Cigarette butts
Please note: there is a 70kg weight limit on all bins.
The contents of this bin will be sent to the Kwinana Energy Recovery facility where your waste will be converted into energy.
Some items should not be place into any of your bins, including:
- Batteries (car or household)
- Fluorescent tubes or CFL’s (compact fluorescent lamps)
- Electronic equipment (e-Waste)
- Aerosol cans
- Gas cylinders
- Hot or burning ashes
- Oils or poisons
- Acid or hazardous waste
- Sand, bricks, mortar, concrete
- Large, heavy, sharp objects
- Asbestos
- Motor vehicle parts, tyres, oil filters
- Pathological or cytotoxic waste
- Medical waste
These items should be taken to an appropriate waste disposal facility. Fees may apply.
To find a detailed list on what to do with your waste visit Recycle Right.
Yes, some collection areas and days will change from 31 March 2025. Our updated collection routes align with suburb borders to improve efficiency with the introduction of the GO bin. Your collection day or recycling week may have changed. To confirm your waste collection days, view the find my bin day webpage.
The Three Bin GO service will cost approximately $35 per household per year more than the current service. The additional charge was introduced in the 2024/2025 financial year to cover rollout costs and will end in 2026/2027. The City will continue to work hard to ensure we provide you the best value for money for your waste service.
The lime green lidded 240L GO bin will automatically be given to all residential properties over 350m2 as they typically have larger gardens. Commercial properties will not be included for this reason.
If you’re on a smaller property or a multi-unit dwelling/apartments you can opt in at any time (subject to approval).
Opt in for a GO bin
All properties greater than 350m2 that have automatically received a GO bin will be unable to Opt-Out of the service.
Yes, you can. Additional bins can be provided by the City at additional cost. See the Council Fees and Charges on our website for detailed information on all waste related costs, including additional bins. Once requested, a pro-rata cost will be automatically added to your rates notice.
If you have a 240L recycling bin, you can upgrade to a larger 360L bin for free.
To order an additional bin, or to upgrade your recycling bin for free, apply below or contact our contractor Veolia on 1300 293 955.
Request an Additional Bin
You must be the property owner to order an additional bin.
Tenants must get written approval from the property owner or property manager to request an additional service as additional charges apply.
Currently, over a third of waste bin content in Kwinana is organics. This content will move out of your general waste bin into the GO bin if separated correctly. The three bin GO systems increases total bin capacity each week by 20L.
If you find you require additional bin space for waste, recycling or garden organics, you can choose to order additional bins from the City, at an additional cost. See Council Fees and Charges on our website for detailed information on all waste related costs, including additional bins. Once requested, these costs will be automatically added to your rates. To order an additional bin, or to upgrade your recycling bin for free, contact our contractor Veolia on 1300 293 955.
You must be the property owner to order an additional bin.
Tenants must get written approval from the property owner or property manager to request an additional service as additional charges apply.
If you misuse your bins, such as placing general waste in your GO or recycling bin, you may receive a $350 infringement, with a maximum penalty up to $5,000, in accordance with the City's Waste Local Law and may also have your recycling and GO service removed.
If you’re unsure how to use your bin, visit Recycle Right or contact our contractor Veolia on 1300 293 955.
With the decision to introduce a GO bin in 2024/25, the current verge collection service has been reviewed to ensure the City provides the most efficient verge collection service for the Kwinana community’s needs going forward.
The City has decided to move to a Pre-Booked Verge Collection service from July 2025. Find out more on our Pre-Booked Verge Collection Page.
The compost created from the collection of Kwinana’s GO bin material is processed on a commercial scale. While there is no ability to sell this material directly back to residents from the processor, the material does end up in widely available compost products sold by a range of retailers throughout the Perth metro area.
The product is called Vitagro soil conditioner and is available at:
- Bibra Lake Soils
- Creation Landscape Supplies
- Green Life Soil Co
- Hills Landscaping Supplies
- Maddington Landscape & Garden Supplies
- Mazzegas Landscaping Supplies
- Screening Trees WA
- Slab & Garden City, Osborne Park, Bayswater, Carlisle
- Soils r Us, Joondalup & Ellenbrook
Kwinana Energy Recovery (KER) is a process where residual waste is thermally treated to generate and produce electricity, significantly reducing CO2 emissions compared to landfilling waste and using fossil fuels to generate electricity.
The City’s general waste bin material is now delivered to KER in Naval Base. This facility will produce 36MW of baseload electricity to the Southwest Interconnected System electricity grid. This is the equivalent of taking 85,000 cars off Perth’s roads, powering 50,000 Perth households every year.
KER will not only process residential waste into energy, but it will also produce ash by-products which are used internationally for construction materials, recovering over 6,000 tonnes per year of recyclable material not normally recovered by other means. Metallic materials from the waste feed will be recovered and recycled, while other by-products will be sorted out for reuse as construction materials.
Find out more at Kwinana Energy Recovery.
If you misuse your bins, such as placing general waste in your GO or recycling bin, you may receive a $350 infringement with a maximum penalty up to $5,000, in accordance with the City Waste Local Law and may also have your recycling and GO service removed.
The City’s emphasis is on educating the community. City officers will aim to give verbal or written advice first rather than infringe. Fines will generally only be given when repeated advice is not acted upon, or when dangerous/hazardous goods are placed out for collection that creates an unacceptable level of risk. We highly encourage you to reach out to us for support if needed.
Together we can be part of a greater community movement to manage waste in a more sustainable manner, improving resource recovery and protecting expensive infrastructure, people and our environment.
If you’re unsure how to use your bin, visit Recycle Right or contact our contractor Veolia on 1300 293 955.
In October 2022, the City surveyed our community and received 877 responses from passionate residents.
We advertised this survey by sending a flyer to every household within the City advising a survey was live through Love My Kwinana, asking you to be a “Bin-fluencer” and to have your say on your preferred bin system. In addition to this flyer we advertised this survey on numerous occasions in October 2022 through print and social media.
Once the survey closed, the City hosed an event in November, inviting around 80 survey participants at random to participate in an in depth focus group. The results from this focus group along with the survey results directly influenced the feasibility assessment outcomes.
The City asked numerous questions to ensure that we fully understood what you want. We found that:
Bin preference
- 32% of residents preferred the current two bin system.
- 66% of residents would like a third kerbside bin. Out of the 66%:
Pro-three bin
- 60% of residents stated they would prefer a FOGO system,
- 33% of residents would prefer a GO system, and
- 7% didn’t mind if they went GO or FOGO.
- 84% of residents are willing to pay something toward a three bin organics service.
- 16% of residents would like the service but do not want to pay for it.
Against three-bin
- 30% stated they didn’t want the third bin due to the additional cost.
- 24% stated they didn’t want a third bin as they already compost at home
Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) services are still quite new in Western Australia. The City’s Feasibility Assessment found there are still several challenges and risks with this type of service. Critically, there is currently not enough processors or market demand for FOGO material, which means FOGO is very expensive compared to a Garden Organics (GO) system. In Kwinana, we have far more garden organics in our waste bins than food waste, which means there is not a lot of advantage to recovering our food waste for the significant extra cost.
Changing from a 2 bin service to a 3 bin GO service recovers an additional 14% of material at an additional cost of $800,000 per annum. Changing to FOGO would only recover an additional 7% of material but would cost $1.2 million per annum more than GO. The City’s Feasibility Assessment considered a range of factors across financial, environmental, social and governance outcomes, whereby GO demonstrated the best value for money for our community at this time.
The City has not ruled out FOGO all together, but instead has committed to transitioning to GO in 2024/25 and revisiting the feasibility of FOGO by 2029/30. If by this time, the cost-benefit of FOGO has improved to the point that it represents good value for money for the Kwinana community, we will transition to a FOGO system.
Yes, you will receive a new 140L red lid general waste bin and a 240L lime lid Garden Organics (GO) bin.
The City also offers free recycling bin upgrades to increase your recycling bin to 360L.
If you need more space, additional bins are available (fees apply).
No, commercial properties will not receive GO bins, as they typically don’t generate garden organics. Commercial properties are also unable to opt into this service.
The City will provide medical exemptions for residents with proven medical conditions generating excess waste. They will receive an additional 140L general waste bin, free of charge.
To apply, submit a Medical Exemption request, with an attached Medical Exemption Service Application Form signed by your doctor.
Unfortunately, the City cannot provide an exemption for large families or children in nappies. We encourage everyone to sort their waste in the correct bins to sufficiently utilise all available bin space. Find some great recycling and waste reduction tips.
The City also provides excellent composting, worm farming and reusable nappy subsidies. Please make use of these on your waste reduction journey.
If you're doing all of this and still have problems with space, you can order additional bins. Please be aware owner approval is required as fees apply.
After the initial rollout period, MUDs will be considered on a case by case basis to determine the most suitable collection service for their needs.
If you are a strata manager and want to opt in to the GO service, please contact the City to start this process.
The City has introduced tactile shapes on all residential bin lids to assist vision-impaired residents. These shapes make it easier for everyone to identify bins by touch.
The standard tactile shapes are:
- Square: General Waste
- Triangle: Recycling
- Circle: Organics
This initiative is part of our commitment to creating an inclusive and accessible community for all residents.
The City's waste contractor can repair bins with loose or missing lids, wheels or missing parts free of charge. To request a bin repair or replacement bin, please contact the City's contractor on 1300 293 955.
To keep your bins clean:
- GO Bin: Rinse regularly and use dry garden materials (sticks) at the bottom of the bin to avoid wet garden materials sticking.
- Recycling Bin: Ensure items are clean and dry before disposal.
- Waste Bin: Double-bag odorous waste and keep the lid closed to avoid pests.
All additional general waste bins will be swapped to a 140L red lidded general waste bin by our contractors, residents will not need to do anything for this to be completed other than put your bins out on their scheduled day. The cost of the additional 140L general waste bin will be slightly reduced from $265:
- 2024/25 - $226 p.a. 140L additional bin fee
- 2025/26 - $233 p.a. 140L additional bin fee
The City engaged with the community early in the process through a range of communication channels to encourage participation in the waste rollout survey, which received 896 responses.
To reach as many residents as possible, the City:
- Delivered over 12,000 postcards to households
- Advertised in the Advential and the Spirit eNewsletter
- Emailed pre-registered residents
- Shared six boosted (paid) Facebook posts over four weeks
- Made printed copies of the survey available at the Library and the City Administration building for those without internet access
While 896 responses represent a small portion of the population, the City promoted the opportunity widely and aimed to make it accessible to all residents - giving as many people as possible the opportunity to have their input. More information is available in the Three Bin Feasibility Assessment Report:
View the Three Bin Feasibility Assessment Report
Provided you are residing on a property over 350m², or have decided to opt in for the new garden organic (GO) bin this is normal.
Because the rollout is being completed over a number of weeks with repeat visits to each suburb the delivery of your GO bin my be completed a fortnight later on your non-recycling week. If your rollout is still incomplete (lid change or delivering new GO bin) by the 6th of June or after a fortnight has passed please contact either Veolia or the City.
Here are the respective contact details:
Veolia - 1300 293 955
City of Kwinana - customer@kwinana.wa.gov.au