Lake Macquarie City Council Bin Day

Lake Macquarie City Council is a local authority in New South Wales, home to ~210,000 residents, covering Charlestown, Belmont, Toronto, Warners Bay, Cardiff and Morisset. Like most Australian councils, it runs a multi-bin kerbside collection service. The day your bins go out, and which bins go out which week, depends on your address.

This guide covers the standard Lake Macquarie City Council bin colours and frequencies, how to find your specific collection day, and an easier way to never have to think about bin night again.

Lake Macquarie City Council bin colours and schedule

Lake Macquarie has rolled out FOGO — the lime green bin accepts all food scraps and is collected weekly. Yellow recycling is fortnightly.

How to find your collection day in Lake Macquarie City Council

Your exact collection day depends on your address. Lake Macquarie City Council divides the area into collection zones to balance truck routes across the week, which means different streets - and sometimes different sides of the same street, can have different days. The most reliable way to check is through the official Lake Macquarie City Council website:

Check your Lake Macquarie City Council bin collection day →

Enter your address there to see a personalised schedule, including any upcoming public holiday changes.

Why bin night gets confusing

Lake Macquarie City Council runs a FOGO (food and garden organics) service, which means food scraps go in the green or lime-green bin alongside garden waste, not the red general waste bin. Many residents don't realise this when they first move in, especially if they've come from a council that still uses a fortnightly green-only garden bin.

Public holidays can shift the entire schedule by a day, and some councils push the rotation forward while others skip a week entirely. If you've just moved to Lake Macquarie City Council, your neighbours may be on a completely different rotation to you, even on the same street.

What the bin colours mean

The bin lid colours used in Lake Macquarie City Council broadly follow Australia's national standard for kerbside bins (AS 4123.7):

• Red lid: general waste: the things that can't be recycled or composted.
• Yellow lid: mixed recycling: clean paper, cardboard, glass, plastic and metal containers.
• Lime green lid: FOGO (food organics and garden organics): food scraps go here, not in the red bin.

An easier way to remember bin night

If you're tired of checking calendars and counting fortnights, there's a simpler approach. Bindicator is a small lamp that sits on your kitchen bench or shelf and lights up the night before collection day in the colour of the bins that need to go out. You set it up once (it takes about 2 minutes), and then you never need to check a Lake Macquarie City Council calendar again.

Everyone in the house can see it. No app to open, no notification to dismiss.. When someone takes the bins out, they tap the lid to turn off the light, so the rest of the household knows it has been handled.

Bindicator costs A$35 with free returns and a 3-year warranty. No subscription, no ongoing cost.

Lake Macquarie City Council bin day: frequently asked questions