Local Government Waste Data Survey 2024–25
The annual Local Government Waste Data Survey collects data from all 128 NSW councils on domestic, public and street waste.
Data is collected on demographics, types of services offered and operational factors. The survey is intended for use by the waste and recycling industry, all levels of government and the NSW EPA.
This page replaces the previous PDF report and provides an overview of the current reference period. For more detailed information by council please see Appendix A: Local Government Waste Data Survey 2024–25 Results (XLSX 250KB).
The data should be used in conjunction with the Local Government Waste Data Survey Data Quality Statement.
Key findings
In the 2024–25 financial year, NSW councils collected 4,183,838 tonnes of municipal waste, a 2% increase from the previous year. Of this, 1,735,143 tonnes were reported as recycled.
Access to Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) services is increasing, with more councils offering kerbside organic bin services and some councils transitioning from garden organic bins to FOGO bins.
The amount of material recycled, and the estimated recycling rates, vary by council. This is due to the different operating environments of individual councils including resources and services available.
Overall, the proportion of material recycled remained the same at 41% while generation increased. The proportion of material recycled is expected to increase over time with the continued rollout of organics services and diversion of organic material from garbage (red) bins to organics (green) bins.
Total municipal waste
Municipal waste refers to all domestic waste as well as street and public waste from council operations.
Councils in the Metropolitan Levy Area (MLA) collected 69% of all municipal waste followed by 18% in the Non-levied Area (NLA) and 13% in the Regional Levy Area (RLA). Of the material collected the RLA reported recycling 47% followed by the MLA at 41% and NLA at 39%.
The main source of waste was kerbside garbage (red) bins (42%). This was followed by:
- kerbside organic (green) bins (19%)
- domestic drop off (15%)
- commingled kerbside recycling (yellow) bins (12%)
- bulky waste pickup (6%)
- street and public waste (3%)
- containers collected from the Return and Earn network (3%)*
- other kerbside bins (<1%)
- soft plastics (<1%)
The most recycled source was containers collected from the Return and Earn network followed by other (predominantly paper only), organic (green) and commingled recycling (yellow) kerbside bins.
*Tonnes of containers collected from the Return and Earn network of reverse vending machines, reverse vending centres, automated depots, over the counter sites and donation stations. Refer to the Data Quality Statement Container deposit scheme for more information.
Municipal waste collected per person and household
Each person in NSW generated an average of 0.5 tonnes of municipal waste. This included an average of 0.2 tonnes recycled and 0.3 tonnes disposed per person. Per person, the MLA generated 0.4 tonnes, the RLA generated 0.6 tonnes and the NLA generated 0.7 tonnes.
Households in NSW generated an average of 1.2 tonnes of municipal waste. This included an average of 0.5 tonnes recycled and 0.7 tonnes disposed per household.
Total kerbside bin waste
Kerbside bin waste refers to all kerbside bins.
Local councils collected a total of 3,057,550 tonnes of kerbside bin waste, with 40% recycled, the same as the previous year. The MLA contributed 75% of this waste, followed by the NLA with 13% and RLA with 11%.
- Red bins (garbage): 57% of total kerbside bin waste
- Green bins: 25% of total kerbside bin waste
- Yellow bins: 17% of total kerbside bin waste
There were high rates of recycling reported for both the yellow and green bins:
- Yellow bins: 90% statewide (MLA: 91%, RLA: 90%, NLA: 85%)
- Green bins: 98% statewide (MLA: 98%, RLA: 97%, NLA: 94%)
A total of 774,299 tonnes of organic waste was collected from kerbside organics bins, up 8% from the previous year, with 48% of total kerbside bin organics coming from FOGO services, 52% from GO services and less than 1% from FO services.
Access to services
Most residents in NSW have access to kerbside bin services: 94% for red bins and 92% for yellow bins, with the highest access in MLA, followed by RLA and NLA.
Kerbside organics services were available to 73% of households in NSW. Out of these households:
- 41% had a garden organics bin
- 30% had a FOGO bin
- 1% had access to both a separate garden organics and separate food organics bin.
More MLA households had a garden organics bin, while more RLA and NLA households had FOGO bins.
55 councils offered a FOGO service, and 41 councils offered a garden organics service in 2024–25, an increase from the previous year. Only one council has reported to have separate FO and GO collection services. The number of councils offering FOGO services is expected to continue to grow after the NSW Government passed the Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment (FOGO Recycling) Bill 2024 which requires all councils that offer a residual waste collection to have a source-separated collection of FOGO by 1 July 2030.
Councils also allowed other waste disposal including 110 councils providing drop off at waste facilities, with 27 offering free disposal vouchers. 75 councils offered some sort of bulky kerbside pickup.
Soft plastics
As part of the most recent Survey, the questions were expanded to soft plastics collection and recycling.
391 tonnes of soft plastics were collected with 334 tonnes reported as recycled. The majority of soft plastics were collected in the NLA. 28 councils reported collecting soft plastics in the breakdown of:
- MLA: 20 councils
- RLA: 3 councils
- NLA: 5 councils
Additionally, 17 councils plan to start some form of soft plastic recycling within 24 months:
- MLA: 5 councils
- RLA: 4 councils
- NLA: 8 councils
13 councils offer soft plastic collection via a separate kerbside service. 9 councils offer collection at their community recycling centres and 7 councils have other collection points. 5 councils reported collecting soft plastics in their commingled kerbside collection bin.
Appendix A
Appendix A: Local Government Waste Data Survey 2024–25 Results (XLSX 250KB)