Businesses and waste services

Here’s everything businesses in the local area need to know about recycling services and reducing waste.

Published 8 October 2024

Your rates and waste

All businesses must arrange their own waste collections. Business council rates don’t cover waste and recycling.

You must show your waste collection contract if one of our employees asks to see it. We strongly recommend you hire a contractor to collect recyclables to reduce your business waste going to landfill.

Compostable containers, cups and straws can be separately collected and composted with food at a suitably licensed facility, and recyclable rigid plastics containers can be separated for recycling. Otherwise they need to be sent to landfill.

Our local approvals policy for managing waste in public places outlines your responsibilities for managing business waste.

Your bins

All bins must be clearly labelled with your business name, phone number and address. Order free bin labels by calling us. Your waste contractor’s name, address and phone number must be displayed on all bins.

Your collection

Businesses must always store their bins inside their premises.

If possible, arrange for your waste collection contractor to collect your bins from your storage area when they’re ready for collection and return them immediately after.

If you need to place your bins in a public place for collection, keep them next to your business premises and remove them immediately after. Bins must be in a spot where they won’t disturb traffic flow or parking, or block people walking or riding bikes. They mustn’t block doors or emergency exits.

All waste must be placed inside your bins and lids must be fully closed. Any waste not in a bin is considered illegal dumping.

Download our local approvals policy to check your collection zone and learn more about your responsibilities.

Crowd of happy people in a sunny day gathered around two commercial bins full of plastic celebrating with arms and fists raised in the air.

Take the pledge

Join the growing community of businesses across Sydney that are working to reduce their use of single-use items.

We all have a part to play in reducing, reusing and recycling waste

Around 85% of Sydney's waste is generated from commercial and industrial sectors, yet only 50% of this waste is recycled. While recycling is important, we must reduce and avoid waste altogether.

Eliminate single-use items

From Wednesday 1 June 2022, NSW Government legislation banned the supply of lightweight plastic bags. From Tuesday 1 November 2022, more single-use plastic items are banned such as single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, bowls, plates and more.

Businesses will no longer be able to supply these items in NSW. Find extra information, resources and support for businesses.

Just 9% of plastics ever made have been recycled. The vast majority of disposable, single-use items – straws, cutlery, plastic shopping bags, coffee cups, takeaway packaging, individual wrappers – end up in landfill or contaminating recycling streams

The recycling options available to customers in public spaces, their work and their home will all be different.

No matter how ‘green’ an alternative may seem, if your customer can’t recycle it in the right bin, it ends up in landfill anyway.

If you make the switch to compostable single-use items you need to introduce an organics bin and send the food and compostable packaging to a suitably licensed facility, otherwise these items go to general waste and landfill. Learn about plastic, biodegradable and compostable materials.

Read below for great tips, suppliers and recycling options for your business. You can also use our eliminating single-use toolkit.

Avoid and reduce these items

Clear plastic takeaway containers are recyclable, but only if all food and drink is removed. If they have leftover food or drink inside, they go straight to landfill.

Polystyrene containers and plastic cutlery are not recyclable and cause significant environmental harm. From Tuesday 1 November 2022, all expanded polystyrene food service items and single-use plastic cutlery are banned in NSW.

Try to avoid the use of takeaway containers and cutlery, including other single-use alternatives made from paper or bamboo. When that’s not possible, provide alternatives that are best for the environment.

Best actions
- For customers getting their food delivered, ask if they need cutlery before including it in their delivery.
- Charge $1 or more for a takeaway container. This has proven to be more effective at instilling good habits than offering a discount to customers who bring their own containers.
- Reach out to your regular customers and encourage them to bring their own bowl, plate or container.
- Display prominent signage that encourages customers to bring their own containers. Make it obvious you accept, and think it’s great, when customers bring their own containers.
- Get involved in a container exchange network such as Replated.
- For eat-in customers, there’s no excuse for single-use. Only offer them reusable containers and cups.
- If you cater for or organise events, explore Ruzi, Renta Centre or Walkers Party Hire.
- Organise organics/composting and recycling waste services for your business.
Next best action
- Provide paper/cardboard or compostable containers and wood or bamboo cutlery.
Avoidance is always better than recycling.

Always consider reusable cups before looking at disposable options.

Takeaway coffee cups can’t be recycled in co-mingled or paper/cardboard recycling bins.

When takeaway coffee cups can’t be avoided, offer certified compostable cups. While these are better than other takeaway cups, if they’re not disposed of in an organics/composting bin they go to landfill too.

Best actions
- Charge $1 or more for disposable cups. This has proven to be more effective at instilling good habits than offering a discount to customers who bring their own cups.
- For cafes with regular customers, keep a few spare mugs on hand for when they forget their own.
- Join the Responsible Cafes network or become part of a coffee cup exchange program such as HuskeeSwap and Green Caffeen.
- When organising meetings and small functions, always provide reusable cups for hot and cold drinks. Make sure you let your caterers know you want reusable cups.
- For big outdoor events, look into reusable cup deposit schemes such as Globelet.
From Tuesday 1 November 2022, single-use plastic straws are banned in NSW. Some exemptions apply.

Currently, only compostable straws can be recycled – and only if they’re disposed of in an organics/compost bin.

All the straws placed into co-mingled and paper/cardboard recycling bins go to landfill.

When you must provide a straw, for medical or disability reasons for example, provide a reusable alternative. These include:
- Stainless steel straws – long lifetime, extreme durability, washable and recyclable at end of life.
- Glass straws – durable, washable, difficult to recycle at end of life.
- Bamboo straws – less durable, compostable at end of life.
Lightweight plastic bags were banned in NSW from Wednesday 1 June 2022. A lightweight plastic bag is a fully or partly plastic bag with handles, which is 35 microns thick or less at any part of the bag.
- Replacing lightweight plastic bags with paper bags isn’t a great option if the bags only get used once. Reuse leftover delivery boxes instead of single-use plastic or paper bags.
- Always ask customers if they need a bag before giving them one.
- Charge customers for bags, even if they’re made of paper – this is one of the best ways to change behaviour.
- When offering your customers branded bags, make sure you choose the right material. Avoid anything lined with PVC. Jute and canvas bags are good options as they’re made from natural renewable sources, they’re durable and they’re compostable at the end of their long lives.
Buying condiments in bulk reduces waste. It also saves you money.

Best actions
- For takeaway food, only include condiment sachets if a customer asks for them.
- For eat-in customers, buy condiments in bulk and provide them to customers in reusable containers such as bottles, jars and ramekins.
For situations when disposable sachets can’t be avoided, look for certified compostable plastic (PLA) and sugarcane alternatives. Note that while these may be better than traditional alternatives, if they’re not disposed of in an organics/composting bin they go to landfill too.
Cling film is very difficult to recycle and most of it ends up contaminating the environment and harming marine life.

Best actions
- Use lidded-reusable containers wherever possible. Tupperware, Pyrex, glass, stainless steel and porcelain are all great alternatives.
- Bowl covers made of cotton or canvas are useful alternatives for foods that are not going to stay in the fridge long. Beeswax wraps are also good options.
Silicone lids are another reusable option, but they can be difficult to recycle at end of life.

Compostable ‘zip lock’ bags for freezing are available too. Note that while these may be better than standard alternatives, if they’re not disposed of in an organics/composting bin they go to landfill too.

Events

Use our eliminating single-use toolkit to source the best alternatives to common single-use items at events.

We’ve also developed guidelines for reducing waste from events and services to help event managers find more sustainable alternatives to single-use items. Use these guidelines in combination with our sustainable event guidelines to help design, manage and run overall environmentally sustainable events.

Guides
Reducing waste from events and services: guidelines for single-use itemsPublished 9 May 2022
Guides
Sustainable event guidelinesPublished 1 July 2020
Eliminating single-use toolkit

Suppliers and services

These lists are not exhaustive. There may be other suppliers available. We don’t recommend any particular supplier.

Only purchase products that comply with Australian Standard AS 4736 for industrial composting or AS 5810-2010 for home composting.
- Biopak
- Compost-A-Pak
- Detpak
- Eco Party Box
- Enviropac
- Greenmark
- Greenpack
- Pac Trading
- Vegware
- Compost Connect
- Organic Recycling Group
- Soilco Organics Recycling
- Bright Sparqe is a platform that helps businesses with donations connect with charities. Businesses can donate brand new products and unused and unopened food that has not expired.
- Search for a specific waste service on Planet Ark’s recycling directory specifically designed for businesses.
- Book a free Bin Trim assessment for help reducing your waste and improving your recycling efforts.

A person browses a website on a laptop. A yellow hardhat is on the table next to the laptop.

Recycling

Find out where to recycle all those tricky items through Planet Ark’s recycling directory specifically designed for businesses.

Furniture resources

Using recycled furniture to fit out your office often allows you to buy higher quality items at a lower price, saving valuable resources.

Contact re-use centres such as The Bower or Reverse Garbage to donate your old furniture and find low-cost new pieces.

Organisations and businesses with larger amounts of furniture to donate, for example from an office relocation or hotel refurbishment, can contact Re-Love. Re-Love helps people in crisis set up and furnish homes from scratch.

We have a range of programs to help with greening businesses

Networks & partners
Better Buildings Partnership
Environmental support & funding
Sustainable Destination Partnership
Environmental support & funding
CitySwitch
Environmental support & funding
Water savings

Businesses and waste services