The items you shouldn't be putting in your recycling bin

Parents may think they are doing the environment a favour by throwing nappies into the recycling bin – but it’s just one of many items that are going into the wrong bins.

In Perth, some recycling material is so tainted that China is refusing to buy it – with contamination levels even worse in the regions.

With about 40 per cent of recycling in the Shire of Denmark going to landfill, local councils are now asking inspectors to check inside bins to make sure the recycling content is correct.

Waste disposal experts say contamination levels have risen over time – and bin checks are an important effort by local councils to educate residents, rather than pry into what they’re throwing out.

Aluminium and steel cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles and cardboard are fine to recycle.

So is paper, as long as it’s not shredded.

But you should avoid flexible plastics, aerosols, nappies, clothes or textiles and garden waste.

Failing to clean up your act after a warning, could mean your bin is taped shut – and rubbish not collected.

“Unfortunately what a small percentage do can affect the greater good,” Patrick Hay from Southern Metropolitan Regional Council said.

The Local Government Association is looking for more councils to join a new round of bin checking trials.