Our Lids4Kids Community Recycling & Education Centre (HUB) offers many volunteer opportunities for people of all ages, abilities and levels of experience. We need help with collecting, sorting, administration, construction and helping at community events – just to name a few. Many of the tasks require absolutely no previous experience and can be done remotely at times that suit you. We can even offer delivery of boxes of recyclable materials for you and your family to sort at home. Volunteers are welcome to join us for as little or as long as they like. Even if you’re only available for as little as a few hours a month, every little bit helps!  

Whilst many of our volunteer activities may seem simple, they do provide a meaningful way for a lot of people with limited physical and intellectual capacity to make a worthwhile contribution to help rescue small waste from landfill and our environment. Volunteering is quite an engaging and social activity that members of the community suffering from mental health issues and social isolation can engage in.  

Our HUB is a very welcoming and inclusive environment where we also offer free tea and coffee to all volunteers. Our facilities are wheelchair accessible. Our only warning is that the satisfaction gained by participating in some of our activities can be quite addictive – so please keep an eye on the clock! 

If you are interested in any of the various tasks listed below, please feel free to contact us or pop into the HUB for a chat. Please note that the majority of on-site volunteering roles will require members to apply for a Working with Vulnerable People Card (WWVP) which includes a background check conducted by the ACT Government and ACT Police. Please also note that for insurance purposes, all volunteers will have to become a financial member of Lids4Kids. Some roles will require a valid drivers licence. 

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We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist with raising funds and awareness for our charity. This role would include creating and planning events such as trivia nights, raffles, pop-up market stalls etc. We’re looking for new, fun and exciting ideas to help raise funds that we need to cover our operating costs. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist with desktop publishing and the creation of promotional materials including flyers, stickers, cards, etc. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist our charity with managing our various email inboxes and responding to general enquiries. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist our charity with book-keeping, budgets, annual reports and generalfinance management. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist our charity with organising our digital files and hard/soft copy document management. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteers who would be willing to create, maintain and update our volunteer rosters for one of our many volunteer working groups. You do not even have to visit our HUB as this task can be done remotely. The role would involve recruiting volunteers via social media, confirming which volunteers are available on which day of the week/month and confirming volunteer availability each week and sourcing back-up or replacement volunteers if someone is not available.  

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist with grant and sponsorship applications. This role would include research to source available grants and sponsorship opportunities as well as drafting funding submissions.We’re looking for new, fun and exciting ideas to help raise funds that we need to cover our operating costs. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist our charity with lobbying the ACT (and Commonwealth Government) to assist with our mission, goals, major projects and future accommodation and funding requirements. During 2025, our primary goals are to secure a new home and funding for staff who are all currently volunteers. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist our charity with organising or upgrading our membership database. Our charity has thousands of volunteers and members and we need an effective way to keep track of memberships, renewals and volunteer engagement. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteers to visit community organisations and service clubs (such as Lions, Rotary, Probus etc) and host talks. This would also include group visits to the HUB. Volunteers would have to be available during the weekday, weekends or evenings. The primary role will be to advise the general public on what we do, offer Lids4Kids memberships and assist with merchandise sales. 

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist our charity with managing or assisting with our major projects. This role includes project planning, stakeholder engagement, budgeting, logistics and most importantly project, task and volunteer management. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer admin staff to assist our charity with lobbying the private sector and industry associations to assist with our mission, goals, major projects and future accommodation and funding requirements. During 2025, our primary goals are to secure funding (via donations, in-kind support, partnerships or sponsorships). We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteers to staff our front desk at the HUB. The primary role will be to offer Lids4Kids memberships, assist with membership renewals, merchandise sales and exchange ZWW Swap&Go tubs. 

We are looking for volunteers to host our monthly hands-on Art & Craft Workshops at the HUB. This would also include group visits to the HUB. Volunteers would have to be available during the weekday, weekends or evenings. Workshops include a short talk, lid sorting session and hands-on experience where visitors are given an opportunity to make their own sustainableart & craft using our rescued recycled materials including lids, corks, etc.

We are looking for volunteers to host our Hands-On Workshop Tours at the HUB. Volunteers would have to be available during the weekday, weekends or evenings. Tours include a short talk, lid sorting session and hands-on experience where visitors are given an opportunity to make their own recycled plastic product (pen or carabiner) using our desktop extruder. The primary role will be to advise the general public on what we do, offer Lids4Kids memberships and assist with merchandise sales.

We are looking for volunteers to staff our stalls at weekend events. These primarily include community markets, repair cafes, sustainability events, school fetes and major events such as Floriade. The primary role will be to advise the general public on what we do, offer Lids4Kids membershipsand assist with merchandise sales. 

We are looking for volunteers to visit schools and host talks and lid sorting sessions for school students. This would also include school visits to the HUB. Volunteers would have to be available during the school day.

Lids4Kids is very fortunate to have the support of the supply staff at The Canberra Hospital (Woden ACT) who put aside dozens of single-use cardboard boxes for our charity to re-use. Each day, one of our volunteers visits the hospital loading dock to collect a particular brand of cardboard box that we use to store all of our rescued recyclable items.  

We are looking for more volunteers to join a roster for collecting these boxes. Once collected, the cardboard boxes need to be flattened and then delivered periodically to our HUB at 141 Canberra Avenue Fyshwick. Volunteers would need to have a valid drivers licence and the physical ability to carry, flatten, load and unload empty cardboard boxes. 

Lids4Kids is very fortunate to have the support of staff from the eight individual franchises of Boost Juice in the ACT. These staff put aside dozens of single-use 10L plastic tubs for our charity to re-use. Each week, one of our volunteers visits a Boost Juice location to collect the plastic tubs (and matching lids) that we repurpose as our Zero Waste Warrior tubs for our members to rescue everyday recyclable household items. This usually occurs on a Monday afternoon but can be negotiated with the store manager. 

We are looking for more volunteers to join a roster for collecting these tubs and lids. Once collected, the tubs and lids need to be washed and dried and then delivered periodically to our HUB at 141 Canberra Avenue Fyshwick. Volunteers would need to have a valid drivers licence and the physical ability to carry, wash, load and unload empty plastic tubs. 

We are looking for volunteers to help provide back-up (or buddy support) for staff at our HUB between 10am and 2pm. This is separate to the volunteer role of staffing our front desk, so it does not primarily involve membership or product sales. This role primarily involves assisting our HUB Host to provide supervision and guidance to visitors on sorting the contents of our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs and the colour-sorting of plastic lids. We are looking for volunteers to be available and join our roster (or be listed as a back-up) for just one day per month.

Lids4Kids members in the ACT region use our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs to collect their everyday household recyclable items. Once full, members exchange their full tubs for empty tubs at various Swap&Go locations. These tubs are all collected and returned to the HUB where they are emptied and sorted for recycling each day. As our charity name suggests, the primary item that our members rescue from landfill is small plastic bottle lids from milk, water and soft-drink bottles. As our ZWW tubs are only 10L in size, we do not require members to colour-sort plastic lids. Therefore, we do end up with many eligible plastic lids that require colour-sorting (over 50,000 each week)! 

We are looking for volunteers of all ages and abilities to join us at the HUB to help us colour-sort lids. 

If you do not have time to volunteer at the HUB to help us sort lids, you are more than welcome to collect boxes of lids and take them home for sorting. There is no time limit to return boxes of lids and it’s OK to return lids that you didn’t get a chance to sort. We also have boxes of dirty lids if volunteers would like to assist us with washing lids before colour-sorting. 

If you are not able to visit the HUB to collect boxes of clean (or dirty lids), we can offer delivery and pickup but only in larger quantities to justify transport eg minimum of ten boxes. 

We also have other types of small plastic items that require sorting by colour including:  

• squeezy pouch yoghurt lids (which are used for art/craft and murals) 
• small pop-top lids (which can be recycled once disassembled) 
• bread tags (including by type eg cardboard vs plastic) 

Lids4Kids members in the ACT region use our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs to collect their everyday household recyclable items. Once full, members exchange their full tubs for empty tubs at various Swap&Go locations. These tubs are all collected and returned to the HUB where they are emptied and sorted for recycling each day. As our charity name suggests, the primary item that our members rescue from landfill is small plastic bottle lids from milk, water and soft-drink bottles. These lids are sorted by colour by volunteers. 

However, before these plastic lids can be recycled, they also need to be sorted by type. This can be done by separating lids based on the number marked inside the recycle triangle (either a 2, 4 or 5) or by simply sorting the lids by shape, size, brand and type. The reason lids need to be sorted by type (or polymer) is that when recycling plastic, different types can not be added together. This can render the recycled product unstable (weak or porous) and also means that the product can never be recycled again (become an end-of-life product). 

As you can imagine, colour-sorting lids is very popular amongst kids and adults alike. Therefore, we have millions of lids (in hundreds of small boxes) that have been colour-sorted but require polymer sorting. This is one of our major bottle-necks in the recycling process.  

We are looking for volunteers of all ages and abilities to join us at the HUB to help us separate already colour-sorted lids by type. Whilst this activity may seem complicated, it does not require people with limited physical and intellectual capacity to make a critical assessment of each lid. Lids can be separated by their shade, look, texture and size.  

If you do not have time to volunteer at the HUB to help us sort lids, you are more than welcome to collect boxes of lids and take them home for sorting. There is no time limit to return boxes of lids and it’s OK to return lids that you didn’t get a chance to sort. We also have boxes of dirty lids if volunteers would like to assist us with washing lids before colour-sorting. 

If you are not able to visit the HUB to collect boxes of colour-sorted lids, we can offer delivery and pickup but only in larger quantities to justify transport eg minimum of ten boxes. 

Lids4Kids members in the ACT region use our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs to collect their everyday household recyclable items. Once full, members exchange their full tubs for empty tubs at various Swap&Go locations. These tubs are all collected and returned to the HUB where they are emptied and sorted for recycling each day. Whilst we receive millions of small plastic bottle lids, we also receive many metal lids and small metal items. As our ZWW tubs are only 10L in size, we do not require members to sort these items themselves. 

We are looking for volunteers of all ages and abilities to join us at the HUB to help us sort the many metal items that we receive by type: steel and aluminium. This can be simply done by sight, weight or by using magnets on a stick or string (this is the most fun method for kids). The reason that we sort all of the metal items is because we receive different rates by the kilo from our local recycler for steel vs aluminium. 

We also have other types of small metal items that require sorting including:  

• medicine blister packs 
• e-Waste 
• mobile phones 

Lids4Kids members in the ACT region use our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs to collect their everyday household recyclable items. Once full, members exchange their full tubs for empty tubs at various Swap&Go locations. These tubs are all collected and returned to the HUB where they are emptied and sorted for recycling each day. Whilst we receive millions of small plastic bottle lids, we also receive many metal items including medicine blister packs.  

We are looking for volunteers of all ages and abilities to join us at the HUB to help us sort blister packs by type. They come in either 100% aluminium or mixed material: aluminium (50%) and plastic (50%). The reason that we have to sort all of the blister packs is because we either have to pay (or get paid) by the kilo to have these blister packs recycled. 

Lids4Kids members in the ACT region use our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs to collect their everyday household recyclable items. Once full, members exchange their full tubs for empty tubs at various Swap&Go locations. These tubs are all collected and returned to the HUB where they are emptied and sorted for recycling each day. We also receive mail-in Zero Waste Warrior bags from interstate and after Easter 2025, Zero Waster Warrior wheelie bins. 

We are looking for more volunteers of all ages and abilities to join us at the HUB to help us sort all of the items from these ZWW tubs. You are welcome to join us for as little or as long as you like. We have a roster for those who would like to volunteer once a week, once a month or you can choose to simply pop-in on an ad hoc basis. 

Items that we sort include: 

• aluminium foil & ring pulls 
• batteries  
• corks 
• dental products 
• eye-glasses 
• e-Waste 
• light globes 
• medicine blister packs 
• pens & textas 
• rubber bands 
• small plastic lids 
• small metal items 

Lids4Kids members in the ACT region use our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs to collect their everyday household recyclable items. Once full, members exchange their full tubs for empty tubs at various Swap&Go locations. These tubs are all collected and returned to the HUB where they are emptied and sorted for recycling each day. We do ask that members ensure that all of their recyclable items are clean and dry. However, some of these tubs do contain small plastic bottle lids that are not clean enough to be sorted and recycled.  

These dirty lids are emptied into large 240L wheelie bins to be washed and dried. Many of our volunteers take these lids home in smaller containers ranging from small cardboard boxes (15L) to larger plastic storage tubs (50-100L). These lids require soaking or washing with detergent in tubs, sinks or clothes/dish washing machines. Our current practice is to air-dry lids outside.  

We are looking for volunteers to collect boxes or tubs of dirty lids and take them home for washing and drying. It is very important that lids are not re-packaged wet as they can develop mould. The colour-sorting of lids is completely optional. Despite having thousands of members, the volume of 240L bins full of dirty lids requiring washing is low (less than 5 per week). We do not have a roster of volunteers. Boxes and tubs are collected once a week, once a month or ad hoc depending on volunteer willingness and availability. There is no time limit to return the washed and dried lids. It is possible for volunteers to take the entire 240L wheelie bins full of dirty lids home to be washed and dried but we do not recommend this. 

If you are not able to visit the HUB to collect boxes or tubs of dirty lids, we can offer delivery but only in larger quantities to justify transport eg minimum of ten boxes or 2-3 tubs. Please note that a full tub of lids can be quite heavy. 

Lids4Kids members in the ACT region use our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs to collect their everyday household recyclable items. Once full, members exchange their full tubs for empty tubs at various Swap&Go locations. These tubs are all collected and returned to the HUB where they are emptied and sorted for recycling each day. Some of these tubs are clean enough that they can be re-used immediately, some require a quick wipe down, some require washing with detergent. Our current practice is to air-dry the tubs and lids outside.  

We are looking for volunteers to join a roster for washing these tubs and lids at our HUB. At this early stage, despite having thousands of members, the volume of tubs requiring washing is relatively low (less than 50 per week). The roster may require volunteers to wash tubs once a week or once a month depending on their willingness, availability and number of other volunteers. In future, it may be possible for volunteers to take the tubs and lids home to be washed and dried and returned when next rostered on.  

After Easter 2025, Lids4Kids will launch our Zero Waste Warrior bins in the ACT region for schools and workplaces to collect their dirty lids and/or everyday household recyclable items. Once full, Lids4Kids volunteers will collect these bins and replace them with empty tubs at customer locations. These bins will be returned to the HUB where they will be emptied and sorted for recycling each day. Some of these bins might be clean enough that they can be re-used immediately, some may require a quick wipe down, some will require washing with a high-pressure hose and detergent. Our practice will be to air-dry the bins outside. We do already have a handful of bins that require washing each week. 

We are looking for volunteers to join a roster for washing these bins at our HUB. At this early stage, we do not know the volume of bins that will require washing. The roster may require volunteers to wash bins once a week or once a month depending on their willingness, availability and number of other volunteers. In future, it may be possible for volunteers to take the bins home to be washed and dried and returned when next rostered on.  

We are looking for volunteers to help staff our HUB between 10am and 2pm. This is separate to the volunteer role of staffing our front desk, so it does not primarily involve membership or product sales. This role primarily involves providing supervision and guidance to visitors on sorting the contents of our Zero Waste Warrior Swap&Go Tubs and the colour-sorting of plastic lids. We are looking forvolunteers to be available and join our roster (or be listed as a back-up) for just one day per month.

We are looking for volunteer couriers to deliver and collect small boxes of recyclable items to local members who aren’t physically able to make their own way to the HUB or visit during our standard opening hours. Volunteers must have a valid driverslicence and be a safe and responsible driver (as you’ll be representing our charity on the road). Volunteers may have access to our Lids4Kids delivery van (manual transmission) or can use their own vehicle.Some physical effort is required to lift the boxes (2-3kg) and use of a upright hand trolley to relocate the boxes in and out of member homes.

We are looking for volunteer couriers to deliver small and large boxes of recyclable metal items to SIMS Metal in Hume ACT. Volunteers must have a valid driverslicence and be a safe and responsible driver (as you’ll be representing our charity on the road). Volunteers may have access to our Lids4Kids delivery van (manual transmission) or can use their own vehicle and trailer. Significant physical effort is required to lift the small boxes of steel (10-15kg) and large boxes of aluminium (10-15kg). Use of an upright hand trolley is also required.

We are looking for volunteer couriers to deliver large bulker bags of recyclable 10c containers to the Return-It Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) location in Fyshwick ACT. Volunteers must have a valid driverslicence and be a safe and responsible driver (as you’ll be representing our charity on the road). Volunteers may have access to our Lids4Kids delivery van (manual transmission) or can use their own vehicle. Volunteers must have experience towing and reversing a largetrailer. Significant physical effort is required to drag the large bulker bags (50-80kg) in and out of our trailer.

We are looking for volunteer couriers to deliver our recycled plastic outdoor furniture (including benches and tables) to various locations with the ACT region. Volunteers must have a valid driverslicence and be a safe and responsible driver (as you’ll be representing our charity on the road). Volunteers may have access to our Lids4Kids delivery van (manual transmission) or can use their own vehicle and trailer. Significant physical effort is required to lift the furniture (25-50kg) in and out of our van. Use of a platform hand trolley is also required. This is one of the most fun jobs of the charity as the customers are always very excited to see the end recycled product arrive.

We are looking for volunteer logistics staff to assist our charity with the physical handling, transport and delivery of recycled material. This role would include the use of our Lids4Kids van and trailers (where appropriate) to transport small boxes, large boxes, bulker bags and recycled outdoor furniture. Most deliveries are from our Fyshwick HUB to locations within the ACT but sometimes involve interstate travel. Volunteers would need to represent our charity in a professional and safe manner. Volunteers would need to have a valid driverslicence, safe driving record (including experience with towing) and be able to operate a vehicle with a manual transmission.Volunteers would need to have the physical capacity to move heavy boxes with the use of trolleys, ladders and pallet jacks.

We are looking for volunteer logistics staff to assist our charity with the physical and digital management of our Lids4Kids inventory of recycled material. This role would includea weekly stocktake of hundreds of small boxes, plus many large boxes, bulker bags and recycled outdoor furniture. Our inventory is stored on shelving units, pallets and in sheds at our Fyshwick HUB. Volunteers would need to have the capacity to maintain spreadsheets. 

We are looking for volunteer logistics staff to assist our charity with the physical handling, movement and management of our Lids4Kids inventory of recycled material. This role would include the lifting and movement of small boxes, large boxes, bulker bags and recycled outdoor furniture. Our inventory is stored on shelving units, pallets and in sheds at our Fyshwick HUB. Volunteers would need to have the physical capacity to move heavy boxes with the use of trolleys, ladders and pallet jacks. 

We are looking for volunteer sales staff to assist our charity with promoting our Hands-On Workshop tours. Our primary aim is to book tours for schools, community organisations and service clubs (Lions, Rotary, Probus etc) to help raise awareness of needs for small plastic recycling education. We also offer our tours as volunteering and team building opportunities forsmall businesses, large organisations and government departments. There is potential for these volunteer positions to become part-time paid positions on a contract, sales commission basis. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer sales staff to assist our charity with general product enquiries and product sales. This role would primarily involve promoting our products (and the ability to manufacture custom products) to schools, small businesses, large organisations and government departments. There is potential for these volunteer positions to become part-time paid positions on a contract, sales commission basis. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer sales staff to assist our charity with promoting our Zero Waste Warrior program. Our aim is to get Swap&Go tubs and Wheelie bins into as many households, schools, small businesses, large organisations and government departments as possible. There is a potential for these volunteer positions to become part-time paid positions on a contract, sales commission basis. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer sales staff to assist our charity with promoting our Lids4Kids Schools program. Our primary aim is to get our Zero Waste Warrior wheelie bins and education programs into as many schools (from early childhood to tertiary) as possible. There is potential for these volunteer positions to become part-time paid positions on a contract, sales commission basis. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer sales staff to assist our charity with the general marketing and promoting of all of programs, products and services to the general public, schools, small businesses, large organisations and government departments. The role would include the creation of both printed collateral and digital media. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteer sales staff to assist our charity with promoting our Zero Waste Warrior program. Our primary aim is to get our Swap&Go tubs and Wheelie bins into as many households, schools, small businesses, large organisations and government departments as possible. There is potential for these volunteer positions to become part-time paid positions on a contract, sales commission basis. We have a head office in Fyshwick that you can visit or you can volunteer remotely.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Lids4Kids Workshop with the shredding of small plastic bottle lids. Our team can provide you with the necessary training and personal protective equipment (PPE). Our machines are safe and easy to use with simple push button operation.Some physical effort is required to empty the metal bins of granulated plastic into cardboard boxes.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Lids4Kids Workshop with the packaging of cardboard boxes of shredded plastic. Our team can provide you with the necessary training and personal protective equipment (PPE). The process simply involves the filling, weighing, taping and labelling of cardboard boxes. Some physical effort is required to lift the boxes (7kg) and use of a upright hand trolley to relocate the boxes into our storage sheds. Some inventory skills arerequired to keep track of the number of boxes being packaged and moved.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Lids4Kids Workshop with the packaging of tubes of shredded plastic. The process simply involves the filling, weighing, taping and labelling of small plastic tubes. Some inventory effort is required to keep track of the number of tubes being packaged.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Lids4Kids Workshop with the manufacture of recycled plastic materials for our outdoor furniture including benches and tables. Our experienced team can provide you with the necessary training and personal protective equipment (PPE). Our machines are safe and easy to use with simple push button operation. Some physical effort is required to affix and remove the steel moulds to our machines. The moulds can also get quite hot during operation.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Lids4Kids Workshop with the assembly of recycled plastic materials for our outdoor furniture including benches and tables. Our experienced team can provide you with the necessary training and personal protective equipment (PPE). Some physical effort is required to assemble the individual components and drill them together.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Lids4Kids Workshop with the finishing orassembled recycled plastic outdoor furniture including benches and tables. Our experienced team can provide you with the necessary training and personal protective equipment (PPE). Some physical effort and caution isrequired to use a heat gun to soften the edges of the furniture.

We are looking for volunteers to assist in our Lids4Kids Workshop with the manufacture of small recycled plastic products including pens and caribiners. Our experienced team can provide you with the necessary training and personal protective equipment (PPE). Some physical effort and caution isrequired to assemble and attach the moulds to the machines (which can also get hot).