Yellow lids for recycling

Yellow is the new green … at least when it comes to bin lids.

East Gippsland Shire Council is embarking on a program to gradually replace kerbside recycling bin lids with new yellow lids, bringing the shire in line with Australian Standards.

Manager Waste and Resource Recovery Kartik Venkatraman said Council would undertake the lid replacement program over the next few years, with the initial budget allocated for new households and damaged lid replacement.

“The existing lid colours (red for garbage, lime green for recycling and dark green for green waste) do not meet the current Australian Standards - red for garbage, lime green for organics and yellow for recyclables,” Mr Venkatraman said.

“This has led to confusion for many residents and tourists resulting in recyclable materials being contaminated. To align with the Australian Standards and East Gippsland Shire’s neighbouring councils, the existing colour of the lid on the recycling bin will be changed from lime green to yellow.”

Council’s contractor Tambo Waste is, in the first instance, providing recycling bins with yellow lids to new houses and will also replace damaged lids where applicable.

“The further roll-out of the lid replacement program will be communicated when appropriate,” Mr Venkatraman said.

Residents will start to see some yellow lids in collection areas, but there is no change to the bin collection schedule.