National Recycling Week (10–16 November) is coming to an end, and what better way to celebrate than by binning 4 recycling myths!
As always, if you’re ever unsure about what goes in each bin, your first stop should be the City of Onkaparinga’s A–Z Disposal Guide.
But without further ado, here are 4 recycling myths – which we’ve collected from the Sustainable Onkaparinga Facebook page this week – that need to be dumped for good.
Myth 1: "If it has a recycling symbol, it goes in the yellow bin"
That little triangle with a number you see on plastic items isn’t actually a “recyclable” symbol, it’s called a Plastic Identification Code. It just tells you what type of plastic the item is made from, not whether it can go in your recycling bin.
Here in the City of Onkaparinga, only hard/rigid plastic packaging like bottles, tubs and containers go in your recycling bin. Things like soft plastics, cling wrap, chip packets and plastic bags need to go in your waste-to-landfill bin instead.
When soft plastics and other non-recyclables end up in the recycling bin, they can contaminate an entire truckload of recyclables.
Myth 2: “All glass belongs in the recycling bin”
Not all glass can go in your recycling bin, only clean bottles, jars and drinking glasses are accepted. Items like window glass, mirrors and Pyrex need to go in your waste to landfill bin.
Putting the wrong glass in your recycling bin could contaminate the recycling stream and can break recycling machinery!
Myth 3: “Takeaway coffee cup lids go in the recycling bin”
Most takeaway coffee cups and lids are now compostable, not recyclable! In the City of Onkaparinga, they belong in your green organics bin, along with your food scraps and garden waste.
Why does it matter? Since the single-use plastic ban came into effect in South Australia, most takeaway cups and lids are made from compostable materials such as bioplastics (like corn starch). These items aren't recyclable and need to go into your green organics bin, where they’re turned into compost that’s used in gardens, parks, and farms, helping our soils and plants thrive.
Myth 4: “None of the recycling actually gets recycled anyway”
You’ve probably heard this one before, but here’s the truth: in the City of Onkaparinga, your recycling bin contents DO get recycled.
Everything collected from your recycling bin – and those of about 360,000 other southern residents – is taken to the award-winning Southern Materials Recovery Facility (SMRF) in Seaford Heights, which opened in October 2021 and was featured on ABC’s War on Waste in 2023.
There, materials are sorted and separated, then sent to specialised recycling processors who turn them into new products.
That said, there’s still room for improvement in how we sort our waste at home. The City of Onkaparinga’s most recent kerbside audit found that the top contaminants in recycling bins included:
- general waste
- textiles
- soiled paper and cardboard
- soft plastic
- plastic packaged food.
That’s why the council’s Sustainable Onkaparinga team is here, to help everyone recycle right! Every correctly sorted item helps to:
- keep recycling loads clean and efficient
- reduce waste going to landfill
- support local recycling industries and keep materials in use.
So next time you’re unsure, check the council’s A–Z Disposal Guide, sort it right and know that it DOES make a difference.
Pictured
Stacks of processed paper and cardboard at the award-winning Southern Materials Recovery Facility (SMRF) in Seaford Heights.