Waste & recycling
When your bins go out, and how Blacktown handles recycling and bulky waste. In June 2025 the council rolled out a new three-bin food-and-garden-organics (FOGO) service to more than 127,000 households: a red-lid general-waste bin (140L) collected weekly, a yellow-lid recycling bin (240L) collected fortnightly, and a green-lid food-and-garden-waste bin (240L) collected weekly. Food scraps now go in the green bin, not the red bin. To find your collection day, enter your address on the council's bin collection days page.
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.
- General waste (red lid)
- Weekly140L standard bin. The council swapped the old 240L red bin for a 140L bin with the FOGO rollout; residents can keep a 240L bin at extra cost or downsize to 80L.
- Recycling (yellow lid)
- Fortnightly240L — paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal containers.
- Food & garden organics (green lid)
- Weekly240L; food scraps plus garden waste, collected weekly. Introduced from June 2025 to meet the NSW mandate for a food-and-garden service by 2030. Kitchen caddy and compostable liners supplied.
- Bulky / hard waste
- Up to 12 free household clean-ups per yearNo extra fee; book each collection online or by phone. One box-trailer load (about 2m x 1m x 1m) per collection; whitegoods, mattresses, furniture and tied tree clippings accepted.
- Problem waste & drop-off
- Free Mobile Community Recycling Service (book a home pickup) + NSW EPA Chemical CleanOutThe booked Mobile Community Recycling Service collects paint, oils, batteries, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, fluoro globes and e-waste from your kerb. Household chemicals go to free NSW EPA CleanOut events (next: 1 Nov 2026, Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek). Building/automotive waste goes to the Eastern Creek or Seven Hills Waste Management Centres.
- Find your bin day
- Use the council's bin collection days pageEnter your address. See the links below.
Blacktown moved to a weekly FOGO green bin and a 140L weekly red bin in 2025; bin sizes, frequencies and the annual waste charge can change — confirm your collection day and current fees on the official sources below.
Sources — check it yourself
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.