Most of us want to recycle, but it can sometimes be hard to know exactly how.

Do jar lids and bottle caps go in the yellow bin? What kinds of plastic can be recycled?

And given that food residue can mess up the machines used to recycle waste, how clean do things need to be before they get recycled?

Much depends on where you live

The first thing to know is what’s accepted in your yellow-lidded kerbside bin depends on where you live and what your local material recovery facility can actually recycle.

Online search tools such as Recycling Near You and the Australasian Recycling Label’s “check locally” feature let you enter your postcode and look up how to dispose of specific items.

When in doubt, check for Australasian Recycling Labels on packaging before you bin it. A “chasing arrows” symbol indicates the item is accepted in more than 80% of kerbside recycling bins. However, not all packaging has these labels. Some carry multiple labels.

Aluminium is what soft drink cans are made from, and it’s a high value metal. It’s worth recycling, but size matters.

Aluminium doesn’t contain iron, so it’s not magnetic.

In other words, the magnets used in waste recycling facilities to separate metals from other recyclables won’t........

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