Waste & recycling
When your bins go out, and how Cumberland City Council handles recycling and bulky waste. The council runs a three-bin kerbside service: a red-lid general-waste bin collected weekly, a yellow-lid recycling bin collected fortnightly, and a green-lid garden-organics bin collected fortnightly. The green bin is garden organics only — it doesn't take food scraps; a combined food-and-garden (FOGO) service is still being trialled (a roughly 1,000-household Stage 2 trial ran November 2025 to January 2026), ahead of the NSW-wide FOGO mandate by 2030. As of 1 July 2026, every free-standing house in the LGA is entitled to all three bins — previously not every property had a full three-bin set following the 2016 council merger. 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.
- General waste (red lid)
- Weekly
- Recycling (yellow lid)
- FortnightlyPaper, cardboard, glass, hard plastics, steel and tin cans.
- Garden organics (green lid)
- FortnightlyGarden organics only; no food scraps (FOGO) yet as the standard service — a ~1,000-household FOGO trial ran Nov 2025–Jan 2026. NSW requires FOGO statewide by 2030.
- Bulky / hard waste
- 4 free pre-booked clean-ups per 12 monthsUp to 2 m³ each; book with at least 2 weeks' notice. Extra pickups beyond the 4 free ones cost around $103 (2025–26).
- Problem waste & drop-off
- Mobile Community Recycling Service + 8 small-item drop-off stationsA mobile Community Recycling Service (shared with Blacktown Council, book via problemwaste.com.au) plus small-item drop-off stations at community/library sites (Merrylands, Auburn, Berala, Greystanes, Wentworthville); household chemicals via the annual NSW EPA Household Chemical CleanOut.
- Find your bin day
- Use the council's Find Your Bin Day toolEnter your address on the council's site. See the link below.
Cumberland doesn't yet run a combined food-and-garden organics (FOGO) service as standard — the green bin is garden organics only, with FOGO still in council trials ahead of the NSW 2030 mandate. From 1 July 2026 every free-standing house is entitled to a full three-bin set. Bin frequencies, bin sizes and fees can change — confirm your collection day and current fees on the official sources below.
Sources — check it yourself
- Cumberland City Council — Find Your Bin Day · 2026
- Cumberland City Council — Waste Services Guide (PDF)
- Cumberland City Council — Get a Green Garden Bin
- Cumberland City Council — FOGO trial
- Cumberland City Council — Household Clean-up Collection Service (bulky waste)
- Cumberland City Council — Bin rollout (universal 3-bin service, 1 Jul 2026)
- Cumberland City Council — Problem waste drop stations
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.