Waste & recycling
When your bins go out, and how Ballina Shire Council handles recycling and organics. In urban areas the council runs a three-bin kerbside service: a green-lid FOGO (food organics and garden organics) bin collected weekly, a red-lid landfill/general-waste bin collected fortnightly, and a yellow-lid recycling bin collected fortnightly. The green FOGO bin already takes food scraps as well as garden waste — the service NSW is requiring of all councils by 2030. Rural properties get a two-bin service (landfill + recycling, no FOGO); rural landfill collection moved from weekly to fortnightly on 13 October 2025. To find your collection day, use the council's bin-day lookup.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- FOGO
- The green bin that takes food scraps as well as garden waste.
- Bulky / hard waste collection
- Pickup or drop-off for large items that don't fit in your bins.
- Community Recycling Centre (CRC)
- A free drop-off for 'problem' waste like paint, batteries and oils.
- Weekly (urban)Food organics and garden organics — food scraps plus garden waste. This is the combined FOGO service NSW mandates for all households by 2030. Rural properties don't have a FOGO bin.
- General waste / landfill (red lid)
- Fortnightly (urban & rural)Rural landfill collection changed from weekly to fortnightly on 13 October 2025.
- Recycling (yellow lid)
- Fortnightly (urban & rural)
- Bulky / hard waste
- No confirmed free on-call kerbside collection — items go to the Resource Recovery CentreOversized items can be taken to the council's Resource Recovery Centre (tip) at 167 Southern Cross Drive, Ballina; vehicles are weighed in and out and charged by weight per category. A Salvage Shed operates on site. Check the council's page for any current kerbside bulky-waste service.
- Problem waste & drop-off
- Community Recycling Centre + Community Recycling StationsThe Community Recycling Centre at Ballina's Waste Management Centre takes household hazardous waste (batteries, paint, chemicals, gas bottles, etc.) for free. Small problem wastes (household batteries, x-rays, mobile phones, printer cartridges, smoke detectors) can be dropped at Community Recycling Stations at the Customer Service Centre, Alstonville Cultural Centre, Ballina Library, Ballina Bunnings and Lennox Head Cultural Centre.
- Find your bin day
- Council's Bin Collection Day lookup (address search)See the link below.
Urban and rural services differ (rural is a two-bin service with no FOGO). Bin frequencies, sizes and fees can change — confirm your collection day and current arrangements on the official sources below.
Sources — check it yourself
- Ballina Shire Council — Bin Collection Day (lookup)
- Ballina Shire Council — Kerbside Bins
- Ballina Shire Council — FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics) Bin
- Ballina Shire Council — Resource Recovery Centre (tip)
- Ballina Shire Council — Problem Household Waste / Community Recycling Centre
- Ballina Shire Council — Waste and Recycling
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.