From the classroom to the kerbside, the City of Logan is getting itself sorted when it comes to recycling - and its youngest residents are leading the charge.
Logan City Council's 'Let's Get it Sorted' program is putting recycling back on the radar by asking everyone to check what should go in their yellow-lid bin.
Colourful cartoons have popped up around the city in recent weeks to remind residents that the 'Recycle 5' - metal, cardboard, firm plastic, glass and paper - don't belong in landfill.
But the program is also making use of some even quirkier characters - the city's year 4 to 9 students - who are being taught to take good recycling habits home.
Council's waste services provider, Cleanaway, is taking the 'Let's Get it Sorted' program to local classrooms to help kids identify which household items are waste, and which should be recycled.
Mayor Jon Raven said teaching kids to recycle right was one of the best ways to create cultural change.
"We know our young people care about preserving our planet," Mayor Raven said.
"Learning to sort the rubbish from the recycling is a practical and easy way they can make a difference.
"And if the kids can do it, the rest of us can get ourselves sorted too."
Mayor Raven said the Let's Get it Sorted program was about more than improving local recycling knowledge.
"An audit done at the start of the year showed that while we're doing well with our waste, there's still room to improve," Mayor Raven said.
"At the moment - about 16 per cent of our general waste is actually valuable recycling material, which is currently being lost to landfill.
"While that doesn't sound like a lot, over a year it adds up to more than 13,000 tonnes of reusable materials being buried in landfill. And more in landfill means more costs to ratepayers.
"The State Government charges a Waste Levy for all general waste that goes into landfill, so recycling isn't just good for the environment it's good for our hip pocket too.
"Just imagine the impact we could have with even a small change to our sorting behaviours at home."
As well as promoting the 'Recycle 5', Council is asking everyone to adopt positive recycling practices, which include not bagging recyclable waste in the yellow-lid bin, and disposing of non-recyclable, 'soft' plastics in the red-lid bin.
Residents are also being encouraged to collect bottles and other eligible containers to receive 10c per item from Containers for Change.
Those who can't attend a local depot can leave their containers at a designated drop off point for others to collect.
An average of 918 containers (bottles) were located per recycling tonne during the waste audit.
"Sending bottles to be recycled is better than sending them to landfill, but it's also a missed financial opportunity for our community," Mayor Raven said.
"Logan has one of the highest container recovery rates in the state - putting $18.3 million back into the pockets of local people in a single year.
"I know that if we keep working at it, we can get that number even higher."
Council's local campaign is being backed by more than $1 million in funding from the Queensland Government's Let's Get it Sorted Partnership Program.
Households in Logan will also receive a fridge magnet and sticker in the mail as a handy reminder of what can, and what can't, be recycled.
Logan City Council will conduct another audit of its waste and recycling bins in October 2025 to assess the community's progress.
