Waste & recycling
When your bins go out, and how the Blue Mountains handles recycling and bulky waste. The city runs a three-bin kerbside service: a red-lid general-waste bin (140L) collected weekly, a yellow-lid recycling bin (240L) collected fortnightly, and a green-lid garden-organics bin (240L) collected fortnightly. The green bin is garden-organics only for now — a food-and-garden (FOGO) service is scheduled to start during 2027, when green bins move to weekly. To find your collection day, use the council's bin collection service lookup or the Blue Mountains Waste App.
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.
- Recycling (yellow lid)
- Fortnightly240L — paper, cardboard, glass, hard plastics, steel and tin cans.
- Garden organics (green lid)
- Fortnightly240L; garden organics only for now. FOGO (food + garden) is scheduled to start during 2027, moving the green bin to weekly.
- Bulky / hard waste
- 2 free booked-waste services per financial yearAny combination of kerbside pick-up or facility drop-off, up to 4 m³ each; kerbside chipping in August.
- Problem waste & drop-off
- See the council's A-Z of waste & recyclingThe council directs residents to its waste facilities and A-Z guide for problem-waste options.
- Find your bin day
- Use the council's bin collection service page or the Blue Mountains Waste AppSee the links below.
The Blue Mountains green bin is garden-organics only at present; the council's FOGO service is scheduled to start during 2027. Bin frequencies and fees 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.