Recycle every week over the summer peak (green and yellow)
Monday 16 December to Friday 24 January
The collection of green FOGO (Food Organics Garden Organics) and yellow recycling bins will again switch to weekly pick-ups over the peak summer period.
The summer peak cycle starts Monday 16 December 2024 and ends Friday 24 January 2025.
The collection of blue/red bins for general landfill waste will remain fortnightly.
Don’t forget to place your bins out the night before and collection runs/times will be different during this peak time.
Why weekly yellow and green recycling and not general waste collection?
The summer and festive season can increase the region’s household waste. However, bin audits reveal that most of the increased waste in the general bin should go in the green FOGO or yellow recycling bins.
Increased food waste = green FOGO bin
Seafood, prawn and oyster shells, cheese, the Christmas roast bone and all those uneaten nibbles, salads and desserts belong in the green FOGO bin. Placing this food waste in the general waste bin results in anaerobic (no oxygen) rotting in landfill which increases methane gases that are more damaging to the ozone layer.
And all those serviettes, tissues and pieces of paper towel can also GOGO in the FOGO.
Takeaway and compostable packaging = green FOGO bin
After all that hard work preparing your festive feasts, and the leftovers have been eaten, you might decide to take a break with some takeaway. Check your takeaway packaging is compostable (and by now most of it should be thanks to recent legislation) and green bin it. Yes, that cheesy pizza box, greasy hamburger container and milky coffee cup can all go in the green FOGO bin.
Putting food waste in the green bin creates compost and soil that helps green our Fleurieu Peninsula gardens.
Increased gift packaging, cartons and bottles = yellow bin
Christmas, New Year and summer often result in extra packaging and wrapping for presents, outer cartons and extra beverage bottles (cheers 😊). Pop them in the summer peak weekly yellow bin to help reuse these resources.
Christmas week bin collections - Wednesday 25/12 to Friday 27/12 will be one day later
Christmas week is yellow and green bin collection, with Wednesday 25, Thursday 26 and Friday 27 collections occurring one day later.
Monday collection → as usual
Tuesday collection → as usual
Wednesday collection → Thursday 26 December
Thursday collection → Friday 27 December
Friday collection → Saturday 28 December
Public holidays and early closure
Bin collection
Bin collection still OCCUR on public holidays, EXCEPT Christmas Day. See the ‘Christmas week’ heading for details.
Your calendar also outlines collections on public holidays.
Remember to put your bin out the night before and collection runs/times will be different during this peak time.
Waste and Recycling Depots
Goolwa, Yankalilla, Strathalbyn and Kangaroo Island – CLOSED on all public holidays
Please also see ‘Early closure – Christmas and New Year’s Eve’
Customer service and FRWA Goolwa office
Our customer service and office are CLOSED all public holidays.
Please also see ‘Early closure – Christmas and New Year’s Eve’
Early closure – Christmas and New Year’s Eve
The Strathalbyn, Kangaroo Island, Yankalilla and Goolwa waste depots and office will close early on Christmas and New Year’s Eve:
Tuesday 24 December – all depots and office close at 1.00 pm
Tuesday 31 December – all depots and office close at 1.00 pm
Goolwa, Strathalbyn and Yankalilla Waste and Recycling Depot holiday details
Kangaroo Island Resource Recovery Centre holiday details
Need extra collection this summer?
1. Out-of-cycle paid collection
An extra general waste bin out-of-cycle paid collection is available for $34 ($12 subsequent bins at the same time). Please note, we endeavour to collect these within 48 hours, however these ad-hoc collections may take 72 hours from booking.
To book and pay for an additional collection, call our customer service team on 8555 7405 (Monday to Friday 8.30 to 4.00).
2. In-cycle extra bin paid collection
Do you have an extra bin that needs collection along with your usual collection? FRWA offers a collection of additional complying bins in-cycle for $12 per bin. Complying bins can be purchased and collected from our Strathalbyn, Kangaroo Island, Yankalilla and Goolwa depots. General waste bins [blue/red] are $74 and recycling [yellow and green] cost $83.
To book, call at least 24 hours before your standard collection day: FRWA customer service team on 8555 7405 (Monday to Friday 8.30 to 4.00).
3. Take your bin for a spin… empty it at one of our Waste and Recycling Depots
You can also take your blue/red and green bins to one of our depots during opening hours for disposal – $6.00 per 140lt general, $8 per 240lt green FOGO bin or $4.00 per bag (no fee on Kangaroo Island due to council subsidy).
Your yellow recycling bin is free to empty at the depots.
Holiday homes and extra business waste
We understand the summer and festive season is also peak for many accommodation establishments and businesses in the region. Holiday home and business operators/managers are responsible for the extra waste created by their clients in generating income from their ventures.
The fortnightly general waste collection designed for residents may not be enough for your business during this peak time. Please see the ‘Need extra collection this summer?’ section to review the extra collection services we offer.
Be proactive and pre-book extra collection services before the peak
If you know you will need extra collection services due to increased use or after change-over days of tenants, please book these in advance. If you wait until your bin is full before booking an ad-hoc collection service, you or your guests may need to wait up to 72 hours.
Remind your guests
If you rely on your guests to put the bins out for collection days, consider leaving some extra reminders. To help your guests help you, you could put a note on the fridge – “Please remember to put the yellow and green bins out by Tuesday night, thanks”. Or some property managers send a friendly text message the day before collection as a reminder.
Missed bin? Leave it out for 24 hours
During this peak time, the time your bin is collected may change. Ensure you don’t miss our early run by having your bin out the night before. Our dedicated drivers will be working till late in the afternoon, so please be patient and leave your bin out, even if your usual time is early morning.
Due to the increased service, occasionally a street or area may need to be emptied the next day. If your whole street is not collected on your usual day, please leave your bin out for another 24 hours.
If your individual bin has been missed, please fill out a report a missed bin form or call the FRWA customer service team on 8555 7405 (Monday to Friday 8.30 to 4.00).
Ashbourne, Woodchester, Langhorne Creek rural (not town), Highland Valley and surrounds
Due to operational demands over the summer peak season, residents from the following areas will again have four of their six collections summer peak collections on a SATURDAY.
Residents in the areas listed below (maps below) will have 4 of their 6 collections occur on a Saturday (dates below):
Ashbourne Paris Creek Mount Observation Woodlands Woodchester Langhorne Creek rural areas (NOT Langhorne Creek town central – if you’re unsure if you’re ‘town’, pop bin/s out for Friday to be sure 
) Salem Hartley Gemmells Highland Valley Red Creek Bletchley
The following list outlines your collections for the six week summer peak service:
* Saturday 21 Dec (blue/red + recycling)
* Saturday 28 Dec (recycling)
* Saturday 4 Jan (blue/red + recycling)
* Friday 10 Jan (recycling)
* Saturday 18 Jan (blue/red + recycling)
* Friday 24 Jan (recycling)
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Give a gift to the environment this Christmas - foil trays and wrapping paper, prawn shells and ham bones
Aluminium trays and foil
What about those little alfoil trays for Christmas mince pins or the larger trays used to keep the turkey slices warm? Clean trays and aluminium foil can be scrunched together into a ball and recycled in the yellow bin. Greasy trays need to be washed clean or placed in the blue/red bin.
Batteries
Christmas is the time for batteries. Dead batteries should NEVER be placed in any bin – they are a fire hazard for the waste processor, hazardous to the environment and contain 95% reusable components.
Tape the terminals with sticky tape and collect them separately for free disposal.
Check https://recyclingnearyou.com.au/batteries for storage and disposal details. All of our depots take household batteries for free, as well as numerous retail sites like Woolworths, Officeworks and Battery World.
Wrapping paper
With all that unwrapping, don’t forget to ‘call it a wrap’ by placing it in the yellow bin. Paper wrapping can be recycled, but plastic/foil paper and ribbons need to go in the blue/red bin.
Festive season food, paper serviettes and plates
Did you know that prawn and oyster shells, meat bones, dairy and bread go in the green bin? That’s right, feed food scraps to your green bin to reduce waste from landfill and help return valuable nutrients to our environment.
Paper towels, tissues and paper serviettes can also go in the green bin.
And don’t forget your compostable disposable plates and cutlery can be recycled in your green FOGO bin.
FRWA details
Website: www.frwa.com.au
Depot details and prices: https://frwa.com.au/waste-recycling/depot-locations-price-lists/
Email: admin@frwa.com.au
Customer service phone: 8555 7405 (Monday to Friday 8.30 to 4.00).