Do you need to rinse your recycling? Can you recycle old coathangers? Knowing what and how to recycle can be confusing — and the ACT has some stark differences to the rest of the country.

"What can be recycled varies across Australia," ACT NoWaste's Robbie Ladbrook said.

"ACT residents are enthusiastic recyclers and get it right almost 90 per cent of the time.

"This means, however, that about one in 10 times we get it wrong.

"This can really impact the quality of our recycling; some types of contamination can pose safety hazards for the ACT Materials Recovery Facility staff, and damage machinery."

The ACT Government has an ambitious target to increase its recycling rate to 90 per cent by 2025.

While that target will not be achieved easily — and some of the suggested ways to get there have not been without controversy — there are some things you can do to help from your own home.

You don't need to rinse plastic containers in the ACT, but you do need to remove the lids. ( ABC News: Mark Moore )

Avoid:

Bottletops and lids

Before you throw your bottle of milk, juice or soft drink into the recycling bin, take a moment to remove the lid. "This ensures containers are empty and separates differing materials," Ms Ladbrook explained.

Shredded paper

Shredded paper thrown loosely in the recycling bin is too small to be recycled, as it cross-contaminates bottles and cans and clogs up machinery.

But don't be tempted to place shredded paper within an envelope or a box either — it becomes loose during the sorting process and has the same end result.

"Shredded paper must be taken to the paper and cardboard cages at the Recycling Drop Off Centres for recycling," Ms Ladbrook advised.

"Alternatively, you can use a service such as Send and Shred — where customers send their sensitive documents to be securely shredded and recycled."

You could also consider popping the paper in your compost, or using it as pet litter.

Plastic bags, biscuit packets and bread bags can all be recycled, but not in your household bin. ( ABC Great Southern: Lisa Morrison )

Coathangers

Both wire and plastic containers cannot be recycled because they get tangled in recycling machinery.

If your old hangers are still in good condition, drop them off to your local op shop or The Green Shed.

Drinking glasses

The kerbside recycling system is designed to processes empty containers, packaging, paper and carboard only — that is why some glass items can be recycled, but others cannot.

"A glass jam jar is recyclable as the glass container has been designed to be recycled," Ms Ladbrook explained.

"A drinking glass is not considered a household container or packaging and is not accepted in your recycling bin. This type of glass has been heat treated and cannot be recycled like a jam jar.

"A simple question to ask yourself is, 'did I buy a product in this?'

"This will help eliminate things that commonly contaminate our recycling such as plastic toys, furniture, textiles and large metal objects such as microwaves."

The ACT has a container deposit scheme where residents can collect a 10 cent refund on eligible containers. ( ABC News: Matthew Roberts )

Recycle:

Coffee

What would a recycling story be without a reference to coffee? Can coffee cups, lids and pods be recycled in Canberra?

While it is undoubtedly better to use a reusable cup when you are after a caffeine hit, in the ACT there are several ways to recycle your disposable cup.

The cup can go straight in the recycle bin, and if the lid has a recycling triangle with the number 1, 2, 3 or 5, it can go into the recycling bin too.

If you are out and about while enjoying your coffee, hang on to it and recycle it at home, or look for dedicated coffee cup recycling bins, which are popping up across the territory.

A coffee cup recycling station at Cooleman Court shopping centre. ( Picture: Kate Midena )

Nespresso-brand aluminium coffee pods can be recycled via drop-off locations associated with the Coffee Capsule Recycling Program, including at the Nespresso store and in several nurseries in Canberra.

Other brand coffee pods go into the garbage bin, as the coffee grounds inside the container contaminate the recycling stream.

Bio-coffee cups and biodegradable coffee pods can go into the compost.

Aluminium foil

"Recycling aluminium saves 95 per cent of the energy compared to making new aluminium, and it is one of the most widely recycled metals in the world," Ms Ladbrook said.

"It does not matter if the aluminium product is greasy or dirty. Empty containers and rinse if necessary."

If you have foil or a pie tray to recycle, simply scrunch it into a ball so it is at least the size of a credit card.

Soft plastics

REDcycle provide a soft plastic waste recycling service. ( Supplied )

Avid recyclers will know about the scrunch rule; put simply, any soft plastic you can scrunch into a ball, you can recycle at special locations.

Soft plastic bags — like the ones your bread comes in, bubble wrap, pet food bags, ice-cream wrappers, netting produce bags (with the metal clips removed) and zip-lock bags — can be recycled in specially marked REDcycle bins at most Coles and Woolworths supermarkets.

The plastics will eventually be recycled into things like furniture and signage.

Padded envelopes

Padded envelopes lined with bubble wrap are not for your recycling bin — at least, not in their intact form. If you remove the bubble wrap from the envelope you can recycle the bubble wrap as a soft plastic at your local supermarket, and then put just the paper shell in your recycling bin.

Red and yellow Post Packs can be recycled in a soft plastics bin.

Pizza

"Pizza boxes are one example of something that is accepted in ACT recycling bins and are often not accepted elsewhere," Ms Ladbrook said — just make sure there is no leftover pizza inside, as food waste cannot be recycled.

Whether it is a cardboard carton or a pizza box, flatten your recycling so it is easier to collect. ( ABC Radio Canberra: Jolene Laverty )

Present waste

Most cards and wrapping paper are fine to go into your recycling bin, and you do not need to worry about peeling any sticky tape off them.

The only exceptions are metallic cards and wrapping paper, which cannot be recycled.

Batteries

Do not be tempted to throw used batteries into the recycling bin.

"Small batteries can be dropped off for recycling at Aldi Supermarkets in the specific bin provided, or Batteryworld," Ms Ladbrook said.

Tips:

Decoding the number system

If you are confused by the number within the recycling triangle on your plastics, look no further.

The first thing to note is that the number — known as a Plastic Identification Code — does not automatically mean you can recycle the item.

The only numbers that are able to be recycled are 1, 2, 3 and 5.

Use the garbage bin for everything else (numbers 4, 6 and 7).

Flatten everything

Whether it is a cardboard carton or a pizza box, flatten everything so it is easier to collect — and so it takes up less room in your bin.

In some instances incorrect recycling can ruin an entire truck-load. ( ABC Radio Canberra: Jolene Laverty )

Rinsing

While it used to be the case that you did not need to worry about rinsing out your bottles, jars or yoghurt containers in the ACT, latest advice from the government is that containers should be clean and dry.

Compost

While most of us know not to put food scraps in the recycling bin, you also do not need to throw them into the normal rubbish.

Last year's Waste Feasibility study found that food scraps amounted to 37 per cent of Canberra's weekly rubbish collection. The easy solution is composting.

"Composting food and organic waste could see 40,000 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill," then-City Services Minister Meegan Fitzharris said at the time.

"That waste not only would be diverted, but would also not have the more harmful carbon emissions that it currently does."

Food scraps that can be composted include fruits, vegetables, cake, bread, teabags, coffee, with the exclusion of meat.

Handle compost in well-ventilated areas and wash hands thoroughly afterwards if you do not use gloves. ( iStockphoto/amoceptum )

Green bin

Along the same vein as composting, green bins "are a fantastic way to manage your garden organics," Ms Ladbrook said.

"The material is processed into usable garden products such as mulch and compost. This helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and diverts organic material from going to waste in landfill.

"Canberrans are doing a fantastic job of this so far, with 6,6277 tonnes of garden waste collected since the program first began in 2017.

"But keeping contamination out of these bins is critical to enabling the production of high-quality compost."

Items that can go into your green bin include grass clippings, leaves small branches, flowers, garden prunings and weeds.

If in doubt, check the Recyclopaedia

The ACT Government has compiled an extensive list of what you can and cannot recycle in the territory. They have dubbed it the Recyclopaedia and you can scroll through items alphabetically, as well as search for answers to any questions you may have.