The green organics bin is part of our standard waste collection services for most freestanding properties.
Since the expansion of this service, the amount of green organics diverted from landfill has more than doubled. Thank you for your efforts!
Properties included in the green organics service (mandatory)
- Freestanding house (does not share a common wall)
- Individual lot size 250sqm or more
- Individual lot size 5000sqm or less
Properties can opt in to the green organics service (non mandatory)
- Duplex properties
- Properties within a body corporate
- Individual lot size less than 250 sqm or over 5000 sqm
If you own a property that has not been provided a green organics bin but you would like to opt in, complete the following form.
Property Owner – request a green organics bin
Bin collection
The green organics bin (lime green lid) is collected once a fortnight, on the alternate week to the recycling bin (yellow lid). To find out what day your bin is collected, visit Find my bin day.
Order a new or additional bin
New or additional bins can be ordered by property owners for owner-occupied or tenanted properties.
PROPERTY OWNER - REQUEST A GREEN ORGANICS BIN
Tenants can order a green organics bin. The annual service fee is payable on application.
TENANT - REQUEST A GREEN ORGANICS BIN
If you live in a property that has a body corporate, you will need to provide written approval from your body corporate before you can apply for a green organics service. However, if a green organics bin is already serviced in your complex, written body corporate approval is not required.
Alternatively, you can take your green organics to a Green organics drop and go. There is no charge for residents using this service. Load limits apply for clean green organics: maximum 2.1m x 1.5m and 1m in height.
Bin service fee
The service fee from July 2024 is $64.62 per year with the charge reviewed annually.
Property exemptions
Exemptions will only be approved for properties that have less than 25sqm of green space, including grassed areas, gardens and tree canopies.
Bins are assigned to properties and not based on the individual circumstances of residents. People move houses or experience changes to circumstances that can alter or affect behaviours.
The green organics bin is part of the standard bin set for most houses, to make sure properties have access to necessary services long-term.
Exemption eligibility criteria does NOT include:
- using professional or assisted gardening services
- preferring to self-process garden waste (compost/mulch) or remove it from their property (self-haul).
APPLY FOR AN EXEMPTION
Grass clippings
Cut palm fronds
Small twigs and branches
(up to 40cm long)
Leaves, prunings and weeds
Put garden organics loosely in the bin, not bagged.
What can't be put in the bin
Items that cannot go in your lime-lidded green organics bin:
- Food scraps*
- Plastic bags
- Construction items
- Gardening equipment or products, like garden tools or gloves
- Logs and stumps
- Treated timber
- Soil, dirt or sand
- Recyclables (put them in your yellow lid recycling bin)
- Chemicals or liquids
- Gas cylinders
For information about what to do with these materials see our Recyclepedia.
*The Queensland organics industry is still planning and preparing for Food Organics Garden Organics collections across the state. To explore ways to save food, money and our planet, visit lovefoodhatewaste.com
Green organics bins are important
Our city is growing rapidly. By 2041 we expect to have up to one million residents. If we continue at our current rate of sending waste to landfill, our city will run out of landfill space within the next 10 years.
Anything put into general waste bins ends up in landfill.
Our last waste audit showed the average general waste bin was filled with 27% green organics which went to landfill.
Using green organics bins we can all help reduce landfill, extending their lifespan. It also saves ratepayers money by reducing the fees we pay to the Queensland Government to dispose of landfill.
The green organics collected through this service are processed by a specialist facility. The material is recycled into compost and mulch for use on parks and gardens, in agriculture or to rejuvenate soils.