Waste & recycling
When your bins go out, and how Inner West Council handles recycling and bulky waste. Houses get a three-bin kerbside service: a red-lid general-waste bin and a yellow-lid recycling bin, both collected fortnightly (alternating weeks), and a green-lid Food Organics & Garden Organics (FOGO) bin — food scraps and garden waste together — collected every week. Inner West says it was one of the first Sydney councils to roll out a full FOGO service; a food-and-garden bin is a standout compared with several neighbouring councils that only collect garden waste. To find your collection day, use the council's bin collection 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)
- FortnightlyHouses; four-or-fewer-unit blocks are fortnightly by default with an opt-in to weekly.
- Recycling (yellow lid)
- FortnightlyPaper, cardboard, glass, hard plastics, steel and tin cans; alternates with the red bin.
- Food & garden organics (green lid)
- Weekly — full FOGO serviceFood scraps (incl. meat, dairy, bones) and garden organics collected together every week.
- Bulky / hard waste
- 1 free booked clean-up a year (up to 2m³), then $170.60 per extra bookingFor properties paying the domestic waste management charge; book online, cap 2m × 1m × 1m per collection, cancel/reschedule 48 hours ahead.
- Problem waste & drop-off
- Free — Community Recycling Centres at Leichhardt and St PetersWeekend drop-off for e-waste, batteries (incl. embedded/vape batteries), paint, oils, gas bottles and other household chemicals.
- Find your bin day
- Enter your address on the council's bin collection day toolSee the link below.
Inner West's FOGO service is weekly and accepts food waste as well as garden organics — some neighbouring NSW councils only offer a garden-only green bin. Bin frequencies, booking limits 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.