Waste & recycling
When your bins go out, and how MidCoast handles recycling and bulky waste. The council runs a red-lid general-waste bin collected weekly (it currently still takes food scraps, since there's no food-organics service) and a yellow-lid recycling bin collected fortnightly. Some properties also have a green-lid garden-organics bin, collected fortnightly — it's for garden waste only, not food. MidCoast doesn't yet have a combined food-and-garden (FOGO) service; it's planning a MidCoast Regional Organics Facility (near Darawank), after which the red bin would move to fortnightly and a weekly FOGO green bin would start, targeted for around 2028 ahead of the NSW Government's 2030 FOGO mandate. To find your collection day, enter your address on the council's bin-day 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)
- WeeklyCurrently also takes food scraps (no separate food-organics service yet). Expected to move to fortnightly once the planned regional organics facility is operating.
- Recycling (yellow lid)
- FortnightlyPaper/cardboard, rigid plastics, steel, aluminium, and glass bottles & jars.
- Food & garden organics (green lid)
- Not a FOGO service yet — some properties have a garden-only green bin (fortnightly)Garden organics only (lawn clippings, prunings, leaves/weeds; 75 kg bin weight limit) — no food waste. A full FOGO service is planned via a new Regional Organics Facility, targeted for around 2028 (NSW mandates FOGO for all households by July 2030).
- Bulky / hard waste
- 1 free collection per household per yearFlexible timing — book online (midcoast.nsw.gov.au/bulkywaste) or by phone rather than a fixed street date. Free mattress drop-off at a waste management centre with your booking confirmation; multi-dwelling properties (6+) can arrange a combined collection.
- Problem waste & drop-off
- Free — Community Recycling Centres at Taree, Gloucester & Tuncurry Waste Management CentresBatteries, paint (household limit 20L/day), motor oil, gas bottles, light globes, smoke detectors, e-waste and more, free of charge. Mattresses and tyres are accepted at waste management centres for a fee.
- Find your bin day
- Enter your address on the council's bin-day pageShows your next red, yellow and (if you have one) green collection dates.
MidCoast is one of the NSW councils still without a FOGO (food + garden organics) service; a new regional organics facility is planned to enable one before the July 2030 state mandate. Bin frequencies, the green-bin rollout and fees can change — confirm your collection day and current arrangements on the official sources below.
Sources — check it yourself
- MidCoast Council — Your bin service (address lookup) · 2025
- MidCoast Council — What goes in each bin (red/yellow/green) · Nov 2025
- MidCoast Council — Book a Bulky Waste collection
- MidCoast Council — Disposing of problem waste (Community Recycling Centres) · Nov 2025
- Great Lakes Advocate — Tuncurry waste facility / regional organics facility plan · 2026
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.