Recycling in Mount Isa


Let's get it sorted

Recycling Starts on December 9

Council is introducing a new residential recycling service. From now until 6 December, Council is rolling out yellow-top wheelie bins for recycling to all households in Mount Isa and Camooweal. The yellow-top bin collections will commence in December 2024.

The new 240L yellow-top recycling bin will be collected fortnightly, while the red-top general waste bin will change to being collected once a week. A starting kit with a calendar, flyer and other materials will be in your wheelie bin when you receive it. You can also check my bin day to find out when your bins will be collected every week.

Recycling starts in December 2024 flyer

Implementing recycling in Mount Isa offers significant advantages including reducing environmental impacts, extending the lifespan of the landfill, and reducing the Queensland Waste Levy costs. All of these impacts will lead to substantial financial savings for the community in the future.

Participating in recycling will allow you to have the opportunity to contribute to a more sustainable and prosperous future for Mount Isa, ensuring a cleaner, greener city for generations to come.

To find out when your bin day will be, go to My Bin Day, and check this video here.

To find out what can you recycle in the yellow bin, go to our Recycle Mate helper.


What Happens to the Recyclables in Your Yellow Bin?

The new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) will process recyclable materials collected from your yellow bin, including hard plastics, steel, aluminium, paper, cardboard, glass bottles, and jars. The glass processed will be used in construction materials for our roads, supporting our commitment to sustainability and creating a circular economy.

Check out this video from the Sunshine Coast City Council for a glimpse of what we will have in Mount Isa on a smaller scale. The MRF will be fully operational in December 2024.

Materials Recovery Facility

Let’s get our recycling sorted Mount Isa! (Video)

Knowing what items can go in your yellow lid bin will help make sure we’re recycling as much as we can and recycling correctly.

Recycling helps reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill which is good for the environment and our community. It also creates jobs and contributes to economic growth.

Keep it loose - don't bag your recycling

Keep it loose – don't bag your recycling (Video)

It’s important to keep your recycling loose and not put it in a bag when it goes into your yellow lid bin.

These are the reasons why:

  • To keep it safe and efficient: When your recycling arrives at a materials recovery facility (MRF) in bags, the people or equipment processing the recycling won’t know whether the items in the bag are recyclable, not recyclable or potentially dangerous. For safety and efficiency reasons, the bags are usually removed from the recycling stream and these valuable resources are sent to landfill.
  • To reduce damage to facility equipment: Soft plastics, like plastic bags, can’t be collected through your yellow lid bin. They can get caught in the processing equipment, causing delays and reducing the efficiency of the process.
  • To help sort and process items correctly: Placing recyclable items in paper bags can also affect the recycling process. The materials inside the bag may not be recognised correctly by sorting equipment and the materials could be sorted into the wrong recycling stream. When items are incorrectly sorted or processed it can reduce the quality of the final product.

Keep it loose, and not in a bag. Let’s get it sorted.

What goes in the recycling bin?

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