First, what your bins genuinely can't take
The fortnightly green bin is a fine servant and a poor master. It won't take limbs thicker than an arm, it fills after one afternoon of real pruning, and it can't help at all with the fridge, the mattress or the shed. The red bin is worse: in NSW, several common household items are regulated streams that shouldn't, and in some cases lawfully can't, go into general waste. That's not a sales line, it's the state's waste framework, administered by the NSW EPA (waste regulations overview).
Stream by stream
| Stream | What happens after pickup |
|---|---|
| Green waste | Rides separately from general rubbish so it stays clean, then goes to a transfer station that processes garden organics into mulch and compost rather than burying them. Mixing it into a general load wastes it, which is one reason loose green waste is kept out of council bulky-goods cleanups too. |
| E-waste (TVs, computers, monitors) | Can't lawfully go to general waste in NSW. It's set aside on the truck and delivered to a licensed e-waste facility where metals and boards are recovered. |
| Whitegoods (fridges, freezers, washers) | Fridges and freezers need degassing before metal recovery, so they go to facilities equipped for it. The steel is one of the most reliably recycled materials in the whole load. |
| Mattresses | A dedicated recycling stream where facilities accept them: springs to scrap steel, foam and fibre recovered where practical. |
| Scrap metal | The old swing set and the rusted gate never see landfill. Metal is sorted out and sold to scrap, which is the system working exactly as it should. |
| Reusable furniture and goods | Anything genuinely rehomeable is offered to charity first, where they'll accept it. Charities are rightly choosy, so "they'll take it" is a judgement we make honestly rather than optimistically. |
| General waste | What's left after the sorting above goes to a licensed waste facility. Tip fees are part of our fixed price, never a surprise line afterwards. |
What we won't load, and why that's good news
Asbestos, chemicals, liquid waste and clinical waste are specialist-licensed work under NSW rules, and any general clearance crew that shrugs and takes them is telling you something important about where the rest of your load goes. We set them aside and point you to the right path instead: NSW runs periodic free household-chemical collection programs, and licensed asbestos contractors are their own trade for good reason. Transporting waste in NSW carries real obligations, over certain thresholds it requires licensing, which is why the "where does it go" question deserves a straight answer from anyone you hire (NSW EPA: transporting waste).
What we deliberately don't claim
You'll notice no recycling percentage on this page. We sort every load and divert what can honestly be diverted, green waste, metals, e-waste, mattresses, rehomeable goods, but a crew that quotes you "80% recycled" is quoting a marketing number, not a weighbridge. We'd rather describe the system truthfully and let it speak for itself.
References
- NSW EPA: Waste regulations overview. The framework behind which streams are regulated and why.
- NSW EPA: Transporting waste. The obligations that apply to moving waste in NSW, including licensing thresholds.
- Ku-ring-gai Council: Book a clean-up. The local kerbside rules, including the green-waste bundling requirements this page refers to.