Did you know the average Australian household produces a busload of waste every year?
City of Darwin is working with the community to increase our recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill in Darwin.
There are many ways to 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 kerbside recycling bins make it easy to recycle many 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 makes recycling the correct items harder.
Don’t let your recycling efforts go to waste - Learn to recycle for good with these helpful resources:
Recycling bin sticker - A useful tool to recycle right at home. Download here or collect yours from the City of Darwin Civic Centre.
- Recycling in Darwin flyer - Learn more about how to recycle and where your recycling goes in Darwin. Download here.
- A-Z Recycling Guide - For more detail on how to recycle individual items, see our A-Z Recycling Guide here.
The Waste Hierarchy
The waste hierarchy is a 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.