The City of Karratha completed its 2026 bin tagging education program from 1 July to 11 August 2026.
The program was designed as an educational initiative to better understand household waste sorting behaviours, identify common recycling contamination issues and provide practical feedback to residents about how to use their recycling and general waste bins correctly.
As part of the program, recycling and general waste bins at selected households were visually inspected before collection, with educational tags used to provide residents with feedback about their waste sorting.
The results have established a baseline that will help guide future waste education, service reviews and repeat auditing.
What did we find?
The results show that while residents are making an effort to recycle, there is significant room to improve how materials are being sorted between recycling and general waste bins.
Key findings included:
- around three in four recycling bins inspected contained at least one contaminant
- recyclables were found in more than one-third of general waste bins inspected
- common recycling contamination included soft plastics, unrinsed containers and recyclables placed inside bags
- of the 2,278 recycling bins presented, 394 inspections (17.3 per cent) involved a recycling bin recorded as full or overfull while recyclables were also found in the corresponding general waste bin
- these occurrences related to 338 unique addresses.
The findings provide the City with useful information about both household recycling behaviours and potential barriers to recycling correctly.
Why does contamination matter?
Once your recycling bin is collected, its contents are sorted and processed so materials such as paper, cardboard, rigid plastics, glass and metals can be separated and recovered for recycling.
When incorrect items are placed in recycling bins, they need to be removed during processing and can make it more difficult to recover recyclable materials.
For example, soft plastics can interfere with sorting equipment, while food and liquids left in containers can contaminate otherwise recyclable materials. Heavily contaminated material may be unable to be recovered and can ultimately be sent to landfill.
Correctly sorting your waste helps:
- reduce contamination in recycling streams
- improve the recovery of recyclable materials
- reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill
- improve safety for waste collection and processing workers
- ensure hazardous materials are disposed of appropriately.
Common recycling mistakes
Some of the most common issues identified through the program can be avoided with a few simple changes.
When using your recycling bin:
- keep recyclables loose – do not place recyclables inside plastic bags
- empty and rinse containers before placing them in the recycling bin
- keep soft plastics out of the recycling bin
- place recyclable materials in your recycling bin rather than your general waste bin.
Items such as food waste, soft plastics, bagged recyclables, batteries, gas bottles, chemicals and hazardous waste should not be placed in your recycling bin.
Recycling found in general waste bins
The program also found recyclable materials in more than one-third of general waste bins inspected.
Placing recyclable materials in the general waste bin means those materials are sent to landfill rather than being available for recovery through the recycling system.
Where possible, recyclable paper, cardboard, rigid plastic containers, glass bottles and jars, and metal cans should be placed loose in your recycling bin.
Is recycling bin capacity a factor?
The audit also identified a potential recycling capacity issue at some properties.
Of the 2,278 recycling bins presented for inspection, 394 inspections (17.3 per cent) recorded a recycling bin as full or overfull while recyclable materials were also identified in the corresponding general waste bin. These occurrences related to 338 unique addresses.
This does not necessarily mean bin capacity was the cause. The City will review these findings further to better understand whether recycling bin capacity, household waste sorting behaviours or other service factors are contributing.
The program also provides an opportunity for the City to consider other service-related issues identified through the audit, including damaged bins.
Household hazardous waste
Some items should not be placed in either kerbside bin because they can pose a risk to waste collection and processing workers or require specialised disposal.
Household hazardous waste can include:
- batteries
- aerosols
- chemicals and pesticides
- oils
- gas bottles
- e-waste and mobile phones
- paint
- asbestos
- EPIRBs.
These items need to be disposed of through the appropriate waste or Household Hazardous Waste pathway.
Keeping hazardous materials out of household bins helps protect collection and processing workers and ensures these materials can be managed safely.
What happens next?
The 2026 bin tagging education program has established a baseline for the City to better understand current household waste and recycling practices.
The findings will help inform future education, service reviews and repeat auditing, with a focus on improving recycling habits and addressing service-related barriers where identified.
Residents can also play an important role by checking what belongs in each bin and making small changes at home to recycle correctly.
Together, these improvements can help recover more valuable materials and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
Need more information?
For more information about accepted waste items and correct waste practices, visit https://karratha.wa.gov.au/environment/waste-and-recycling/recycle-right-information.