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Waste & recycling

Waste & recycling

When your bin goes out, and how Coonamble Shire handles waste across Coonamble, Gulargambone and Quambone. Council runs a single-bin kerbside service: a red-lidded Otto/'wheelie' bin collected weekly in the towns and villages. There is no kerbside recycling bin and no green food-and-garden-organics bin — Council said so directly in an April 2026 media release, and set out its position on FOGO in March 2026 (both linked below). Recycling instead runs through Return and Earn, contractor collections for specific materials, and free drop-off of pre-sorted material at the shire's three waste facilities. Bin day is a fixed timetable by town — and, in Coonamble, by which side of town you live on — rather than an address 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.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

Bin collection at a glance

General waste (red lid)
WeeklyEach household has a Council-approved red-lidded Otto/'wheelie' bin; bins with other lid colours are not picked up, because the lid colour indicates the waste type. Bins are available for a fee and additional bins increase the collection charge. Collection starts very early, so Council asks residents to put the bin out the night before. Green waste, timber off-cuts and metal should go to a waste facility, not in the bin.
Recycling (yellow lid)
Not offered — no kerbside recycling serviceCouncil's media release of 30 April 2026 states that "kerbside recycling services are not currently provided across the Shire". Recycling instead runs through the NSW Return and Earn scheme and contractor-based collection of cardboard, mattresses, tyres and e-waste. Council cites low population density, low waste volumes and a 15-18% fall in recyclable volumes since Return and Earn began, and notes that three of ten councils in a recent regional waste report offer a kerbside recycling service.
Not offered — Council is seeking an EPA exemptionUnder the NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy, councils must introduce a household FOGO kerbside service by 2030. Council's 12 March 2026 media release estimates a local rollout at about 2,000 new bins, a weekly collection and transport of organics to Dubbo, costing roughly $354,000 in the first year and about $254,000 a year after that. Council considers the service neither financially viable nor environmentally efficient here and is exploring the NSW EPA's custom exemption framework.
Bulky / hard waste
No kerbside collection — self-haul to a waste facility, gate fees applySorted material can be dropped free (batteries, scrap metal, e-waste, whitegoods with gas removed, clean earthen fill, residential green waste, cardboard, paper, concrete and poly). Charges published by Council include $10 per unsorted wheelie bin ($5 half-full), $20 per cubic metre of unsorted domestic waste, $35 per cubic metre compacted non-recyclables, mattresses $20-$40, armchairs $25, lounges $30 and tyres $18-$225 depending on type.
Problem waste & drop-off
Coonamble Community Recycling Centre, Coonamble Waste Management Facility, Quambone RoadOpened December 2025 with a $31,601 grant from the Environmental Trust under the NSW EPA's Waste Less Recycle More initiative. Free drop-off, year-round, of up to 20 litres or 20 kilograms of household problem waste per visit — paints, oils, gas bottles, household batteries and smoke detectors. Open Monday to Thursday 7am-4pm and Saturday and Sunday 9am-4pm (closed Fridays). Return and Earn container refunds operate at the Coonamble facility (Mon-Fri 7am-4pm) and at Quambone.
Find your bin day
Fixed timetable by town — Council's Kerbside Waste Collection page, or (02) 6827 1900Coonamble east side (main-street side): bins out Monday night for Tuesday morning. Coonamble west side (IGA side): bins out Wednesday night for Thursday morning. Gulargambone and Quambone: bins out Tuesday night for Wednesday morning. There is no street-address lookup tool — see the link below.

Kerbside collection is provided in the towns and villages of the LGA; properties outside the collection area pay a separate rural waste management charge and use the waste facilities. Gulargambone Waste Transfer Station opens Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 2pm-5pm; Quambone Waste Facility opens Tuesday and Friday 2pm-5pm and Saturday 8am-noon; both accept domestic waste only. Council ran a community survey on its waste facilities in 2026. Frequencies, opening hours and gate fees change — confirm 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.