Waste & recycling
When your bins go out, and how the Northern Beaches handles recycling and bulky waste. The council runs a four-bin kerbside service: a red-lid general-waste bin collected weekly, separate blue-lid (paper & cardboard) and yellow-lid (containers & glass) recycling bins that alternate fortnightly, and a lime-green-lid bin for garden vegetation collected fortnightly. The green bin is garden vegetation only — food waste is not accepted (there is no food-and-garden/FOGO service). To find your collection day, enter your address in the council's bin collection 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)
- WeeklyNow sent to a processing plant that recovers recyclables before landfill.
- Recycling (yellow + blue lids)
- Fortnightly (alternating)Four-bin system: yellow for containers/glass and blue for paper & cardboard alternate, so one recycling bin goes out each fortnight.
- Garden organics (green lid)
- Fortnightly — garden vegetation only (no FOGO)Leaves, branches under 75mm, grass and other vegetation only; food waste is not accepted. The council keeps a separate vegetation stream rather than a combined food-and-garden service.
- Bulky / hard waste
- 2 free pre-booked collections per 12 monthsMainland households on the domestic waste charge can pre-book 2 bulky-goods collections in a rolling 12-month period; must be booked before items go out.
- Problem waste & drop-off
- Kimbriki Resource Recovery Centre (Terrey Hills) + Chemical CleanOutKimbriki accepts a wide range of materials for recycling/disposal; household chemicals via the NSW EPA Chemical CleanOut events.
- Find your bin day
- Use the council's bin collection days lookupCollection zones vary by street — see the link below.
The Northern Beaches green bin is garden vegetation only — there is no food-and-garden (FOGO) service. 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.