Around 40 per cent of the rubbish being thrown into Byron Shire’s general waste bins could instead be going into the green bin, a new Council audit has found.
The 2026 kerbside bin audit found food and food products made up almost 36 per cent of the contents of general waste bins, with vegetation taking the total proportion of compostable material to about 40 per cent.
A further 11 per cent of material found in red bins could have been recycled.
The findings are contained in a resource recovery report presented to Byron Council’s Climate Change and Resource Recovery Advisory Committee last week.
‘Council undertakes a kerbside bin audit every three years to understand resident behavior in relation to how they are using their household wheelie bin service,’ the report says.
‘This assists in planning for future servicing requirements, resource recovery opportunities and targeted education campaigns.’
The audit was undertaken by APC Consulting in conjunction with neighbouring councils and in accordance with NSW EPA guidelines, allowing results to be compared across the region.
Council says the high level of food waste in general rubbish bins is consistent across the Northern Rivers, and a regional education campaign is being planned to encourage residents to put more food waste into FOGO rather than landfill.
The audit also found about 12.5 per cent of material placed in recycling bins was contamination, meaning roughly 87.5 per cent was correctly sorted.
FOGO bins recorded a contamination rate of seven per cent, with paper and cardboard the largest contaminant.
Council also noted that 20 per cent of material collected through the FOGO service was food contained in kitchen caddie liners, which the report described as the highest level consultant APC had recorded.
Small quantities of vapes, batteries, mobile phones and hazardous or clinical waste were also found in household bins.
There was a marked difference between urban and rural general waste.
The amount of general waste collected from urban households fell by about 600 grams per household compared with the previous audit, while the figure for rural households increased from 4.3 kilograms to 8.6 kilograms.
Council’s waste operations received almost 29,467 tonnes across all streams during 2025–26, up from 27,482 tonnes the previous financial year.
About 25 per cent of waste received through self-haul was diverted from disposal, compared with 22 per cent the previous year.
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