Green lid bins - food and garden waste

Council’s green lid organic waste collection service is available in urban areas for houses and duplexes - find out if it's available in your area by calling us on 02 6670 2400.

An optional user-pays service is available for businesses and multi-unit blocks in some areas (and rural areas if you're on a collection route). 

This is a weekly service for all your food and garden waste.

Read more about composting and worm farms.

Green lid – food and garden waste

• Bins are collected every week (if available in your area)
• Extra green bins can be requested (additional cost)
• 140L and 240L sizes

To make a request or find out more, call 02 6670 2400 or email resourcerecovery@tweed.nsw.gov.au.

No plastic or biodegradable bags in green bins.

Where does my green waste go?

Green bin items are turned into compost.

Organics are brought to the Tweed Organics Processing Facility at Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre. It is pre-sorted, then processed on site.

The end result is high quality compost used by residents, local farmers and for landscape projects. Bags of compost will be available for residents to purchase in 2022 (details to be announced soon).

What goes in a green bin?

What doesn’t go in a green bin?

What happens if I put the wrong item in the bin?

Collection trucks are fitted with cameras. Bins with incorrect items will be tagged and left behind (and will only be collected once the contamination has been removed.)

Council’s bin inspector also checks bins and provides feedback to residents.

Will my green bin smell?

Generally, your green bin should not smell as it is collected every week.

In summer it’s a good idea to put prawn peelings, meat or fish in the freezer until bin day.

For more helpful information download our Fact sheet: 3 Bin System - Tips for summer(PDF, 3MB)

Kitchen caddies

Use a benchtop kitchen caddy to collect your food scraps each day (recycled ice cream containers make a great benchtop bin).

If you’re a new Tweed resident (rate payer) you can collect a kitchen caddie for free from Council, call 02 6670 2400 to arrange pickup.

Compostable bin liners

Bin liners (bin bags) must be compostable to Australian standard AS4736 if going in the green bin. Anything else will contaminate the load, adding to the processing cost.

Guide for liners and bags – what bin?(PDF, 405KB)

Composting and worm farms

Not able to have a green bin? See some other ideas below.

Compost bins

Turn your food scraps into garden compost - what you don’t eat, your garden will!

You can order a variety and sizes of compost bins online (search compost bins) or purchase at local hardware stores.

You can buy these Gedye compost bins at Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre (the tip). The bin is open underneath to allow worms and bugs to travel up into your compost to break it down.

The bins are Australian made from 100% recycled plastic. They're a good size for home composting (150L) and are UV protected.

Keep your bin in a sunny area in your yard. Over time your kitchen scraps and garden offcuts will break down and turn into good quality soil.

Size: 76cm high, 65cm wide

Cost: $50 (2021-22)

Worm farms

You can buy worms and worm farms online, from garden centres and some hardware stores. They come in lots of sizes, some are small and suitable for apartment living.

Composting worms are either Tigers, Reds or Blues - they can eat twice their body weight in food and can live in the moist conditions of your worm farm (unlike garden worms that will not survive). 

Buy a box of 1000 worms to start your farm, they will naturally multiply in a few months.

Set your worm farm up in a shaded, cool place. Cover them with damp newspaper or wet hessian, to keep the light out and moisture in. Make sure the lid and fly-guards are in place to keep out unwanted insects. 

Over time worms and microbes will break down your food scraps into soil for your garden.

Download our Worm farm guide(PDF, 758KB)

Other composting systems

• Subpod (local Byron Bay business)
• Bokashi