Bin Tagging Program

Our Waste Education Officers will make a quick visual assessment of the contents of your bins on the verge before collection on bin day. They do not rummage or tip out the contents of the bins.

A ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ tag is placed on the bin providing feedback about its contents and how you can recycle more and waste less.

The tag tells you which items are in the wrong bin and outlines how to use the bins in the future. We also collect data about contamination, which helps us educate the community.

The program focuses on education rather than enforcement. However, sometimes a bin will not be collected if it has repeated high contamination over three visits.

A tag is attached telling the resident the bin couldn’t be picked up. It also lists all contaminants found. The bin is taped shut to let waste truck drivers know not to empty it.

If this happens to your bin, please remove all contaminants, and contact the City on 1300 422 664 to arrange collection.

The next round of bin tagging is scheduled for autumn 2026.

The last round of bin tagging ran from 17 February 2025 to 14 April 2025.

The community is sometimes unsure about what goes in each bin, and what materials are recyclable. By tagging bins, we are helping to clarify misconceptions and answer questions the community may have.

We’ve found through bin tagging that contamination decreases and there is better waste management. Reducing contamination in bins decreases waste service costs and is good for the environment.

When checking bins, our Waste Education Officers look for contaminants and an overview of how the household is sorting waste. The bin taggers also identify if the bins are overflowing or if hazardous waste was found.

No, the bin tagging program is an education program.

Once on the verge, your bins and their contents become City of Canning property. The Waste Education Officers are City of Canning staff and are authorised to look in the bins. They won’t rummage through your bin - they only look at the content sitting at the top.

The Waste Education Officers collect data about contamination in the kerbside bins. This information will help create education programs targeted at the common contaminants found.

We use the data on a community level rather than individually, and we don’t publish any identifying data.

A sad tag on your bin means our Waste Education Officers found items that don’t belong in this bin. The tag tells you which items are in the wrong bin, so that you can correct your sorting.

A happy tag means we found no or very little contamination in your bin. Please still read through the tag since it details what goes in the bin and tips on how to use it.

You can download the bin tags (PDF 2.8MB) to see what they look like.

The program runs for eight weeks. The bin taggers will inspect kerbside bins every fortnight when the recycling bin is presented on the verge for collection.

The Strategic Waste team chooses areas at random in zones that haven’t been tagged in previous rounds. The aim of the program is to educate as many City residents as possible.

No, bin tagging is part of the City’s pre-existing waste education program.

Putting the right thing in the right bin reduces contamination, which helps save the City money on disposal and contamination fees.

Recyclables that are put in plastic bags won’t be recycled. For staff safety, bags are not opened or emptied at the sorting facility. Recyclables in plastic bags are pulled from the conveyor and sent to landfill.

Soft plastics are very common packaging. They include items such as:

• crisp bags
• lolly wrappers
• bread bags
• shopping bags
• produce bags
• bubble wrap
• parcel bags.

These are not recyclable through your recycling bin. When collected, they wrap and tangle around machinery at the Material Recovery Facility. This causes a full stop of the operations to clear it up.

Soft plastics contaminate paper and cardboard, which reduces its value and recyclability.

Please place your soft plastics in your general waste bin.