The most common recycling mistake made by Australians is to throw soft plastics, such as bread bags, into the kerbside recycling bin.

Research commissioned by Planet Ark for National Recycling Week found more than 90 per cent of Australians believe recycling is the right thing to do and 59 per cent have a high level of trust in kerbside recycling.

Australia has had kerbside recycling for about 30 years, starting off in Sydney with paper, glass and aluminium.

A recycling centre. Credit:Karleen Minney

But simple mistakes continue to be made that can clog up recycling machines, degrade the value of recycled materials, increase waste going to landfill and increase the cost of recycling.