What happens to rubbish in the bin?
Quick answer from Eartha
Most rubbish gets picked up by a truck and taken to a landfill, a big area where it's buried in the ground. Some rubbish takes a very long time to break down, even hundreds of years. That's why it's so good to reduce, reuse and recycle first!
The longer story
When we put something in the red-lid rubbish bin, a truck comes and collects it. The truck drives to a landfill site, which is like a giant, carefully managed hole in the ground where rubbish is layered and covered with soil.
Some things in landfill break down quickly, but plastic can take hundreds of years. That's a really long time, longer than your grandparents' grandparents will be around.
Landfills are built with special linings so rubbish doesn't leak into the ground or water nearby. Even so, it's better to send less there, which is why sorting rubbish into red, yellow and sometimes green bins really matters.
Every little choice helps, like choosing less packaging or reusing a jar. The less we send to landfill, the more room and resources we save for the future.
Try this at home: Bin sort challenge
- Look at your three bins together, red, yellow and green.
- Guess which bin an empty yoghurt tub, a banana peel and a newspaper belong in.
- Check the lids to see if you guessed right.
Words to know
- Landfill
- A big, managed place where rubbish is buried in the ground.
- Break down
- When something slowly rots or falls apart over time.
For grown-ups: what is my child learning here?
Age band: 5-8
Curriculum link: Australian Curriculum v9 Science, AC9SFI04
The concept: Waste that isn't reused or recycled is sent to landfill, where some materials take a long time to decompose.
More classroom ideas are on our teachers page, and safety notes for families are on for parents.
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