Sort the Bin: free recycling game to learn waste sorting

What is Sort the Bin?

It's clear-out day and the truck comes in one minute. Soup cans, banana peels, coffee cups, batteries: put each item in Recycling, Compost, Trash or Drop-off. A wrong bin costs one of 3 lives, and the truck waits while you read why. The tricky ones are worth double.

Sort the Bin is a free one-minute Earth Day game about waste sorting. Household items arrive one at a time, from soup cans and banana peels to coffee cups, receipts and batteries, and you put each one in the Recycling, Compost, Trash (landfill) or Drop-off bin before the truck comes.

A wrong bin costs one of 3 lives, and the clock stops while the game explains why, so every mistake teaches you something. Tricky items like a greasy pizza box or a paper coffee cup are worth double. Rules vary by town, so the game follows widely accepted general guidance and reminds you to check your local list.

At a glance

Category

Seasonal

Difficulty

Easy

Play time

1 min

Price

Free, in your browser, sign-up optional

How to play

Read the item

One household item at a time: a jar, a peel, a receipt, a battery…

Pick the bin

Recycling, Compost, Trash (landfill) or Drop-off for special collection. Tap it or press 1 to 4.

Learn the tricky ones

A wrong bin costs a life and stops the clock while the reason is shown: greasy pizza boxes, coffee cups and batteries all have one.

Score

10 points per item, 20 for a tricky one, ×2 after 5 right in a row and ×3 after 10. Rules vary by town: the game uses widely accepted general guidance.

Scoring

10 points per item sorted right, 20 for a tricky one. 5 right in a row doubles your points, 10 triples them.

60 seconds and 3 lives: a wrong bin costs a life, and the clock stops while the game explains why.

What it trains

Waste sorting

Knowing what goes in recycling, compost, trash or special drop-off.

The tricky cases

Greasy pizza boxes, coffee cups, receipts and batteries, with the reason each time.

Quick decisions

Sorting fast without guessing, against the truck's clock.

Strategy and tips

Grease is the enemy of paper

Clean cardboard recycles; greasy or food-soiled paper goes to compost, or trash if you have no compost.

Shiny and layered means trash

Chip bags and coffee cups mix plastic with foil or paper, and most plants can't separate them.

Batteries never go in a bin

They can start fires in trucks. Shops and recycling centres collect them.

Soft plastic goes back to the shop

Plastic bags jam sorting machines; many supermarkets collect them.

Use the keys

On a keyboard, 1 to 4 pick Recycling, Compost, Trash and Drop-off.

Why play Sort the Bin?

Sorting waste well keeps recycling clean, so it actually gets recycled, and keeps food out of landfills, where it rots into methane. Most mistakes come from a handful of tricky items. Sort the Bin drills exactly those, with a one-line reason each time, in a minute.

Frequently asked questions