Did you know the average Australian household produces a busload of waste every year?
City of Darwin is working with the community to reduce the waste we create and send to landfill, and increase our recycling rates.
There are many ways you can reduce the amount of waste you produce and the amount that ends up in landfill.
From making better choices about what you buy to reusing what you can and choosing the correct bin for disposal - you can make a difference.
Our yellow kerbside recycling bins make it easy to recycle many everyday household items, but its important to know what should and should not go in your recycling bin. When too many of the wrong items - like plastics bags, food waste and e-waste - enter our recycling stream, it becomes 'contaminated' and contaminated recycling has to be sent to landfill.
Don’t let your recycling efforts go to waste. Recycle your thinking and learn to recycle for good, with the helpful guide below and available for download here. For more detail on how to recycle individual items, see our A-Z Recycling Guide here.
The Waste Hierarchy
The waste hierarchy is a universally accepted guide for prioritising how we use, reuse and dispose of material for the best environmental outcome now and into the future.
Put simply, the higher up the hierarchy you act, the better for the environment.
Avoid – Avoid producing waste in the first place. For example, before buying something, ask yourself ‘Do I really need it?’
Reduce – Reduce the amount of waste created. For example, choose products with less packaging.
Re-use – Use things more than once or donate unwanted items that could be reused. For example, use clean ice-cream tubs to store loose items.
Recycle – The items placed in your recycling bin are separated into their raw materials and sent away to make something new.
Recover – Industry can generate energy from waste. For example, landfill gas is captured at Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility and turned into renewable energy.
Dispose – As a last resort, dispose of waste in landfill.