A to Z of waste disposal

Want to know what to do with unwanted household items?

This guide suggests appropriate disposal options for common household items.

Where disposal is not part of regular waste and recycling collections (labelled other in the guide), please see the information below!


Baths, bathroom sinks, vanity

Donate to a second-hand building materials supplier. Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Try Construction Connect or alternatively the Australian Recycling Community.

Batteries

Car batteries can be taken to the next Household Chemical CleanOut Collection for recycling, or Belrose or Artarmon Waste & Recycling Centre.

Household batteries can be recycled for free through Battery World, 5 Mitchell Road, Brookvale (next to Hardware & General, opposite McDonalds). Phone 9939 2439. Mosman Council encourages using rechargeable batteries to reduce the amount of toxic waste going to landfill.

See Mobile Phones below for mobile phone battery recycling.

Carry bags – plastic

Refer to Plastic Bags – supermarket.

Cartridges – printer

Ask your current cartridge provider whether they have a recycling program.

Alternatively, Cartridges 4 Planet Ark campaign has set up special printer cartridge recycling bins at Australia Post, Officeworks, Harvey Norman, Tandy, Dick Smith Electronics and Powerhouse stores. For further information, or for Mosman businesses wanting free cartridges recycling pickup, call the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark hotline on 1800 24 24 73.

Charity Stores

Many charity stores will also accept your unwanted household items and clothing. Visit Planet Ark at www.recyclingnearyou.com.au to find your local charity store and identify accepted items.

Chemical collection

The Department of Environment and Conservation runs free chemical collection days at various sites throughout the year. The collection accepts all household chemicals. For more information call the Environment Line on 131 555 or visit the CleanOut website at www.cleanout.com.au

Computers

Visit Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You website for information on companies and charities which resell or recycle computers. Companies include:

Construction and Demolition Waste

Visit Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You website for information on minimising and recycling construction and demolition waste. Find out if there is a drop off location near you collecting construction and demolition waste.

Alternatively, Construction Connect is a website where businesses and individuals can list the reusable goods and materials they no longer need, or they can place a request for those reusable items.

Corks

A local Mosman resident, Mr Brian Woolley, collects corks and aluminium screw-top lids (e.g. wine bottle lids) on behalf of Collaroy Plateau Retirement Village Recycling Program. This program raises money for charity. For more information on collection points contact Mr Woolley on 9969 4221.

The Body Shop collects corks on behalf of the Girl Guides National Cork Recycling Program. For more information on collection points contact Girl Guides Association (New South Wales) on 9698 3322.

Electrical and Electronic Goods

See also Computers, Mobile Phones, Fridges, Cartridges.

The rapid advance in technology means that we regularly replace our computer and electronic equipment, creating a lot of extra waste going into landfills. E-waste items contain many toxic chemicals such as lead and mercury.

The good news is that approximately 90% of materials contained in e-waste are recyclable!

Council will be conducting a number of free e-waste recycling events during 2009. They’ll be advertised in the Mosman Daily and on this website from February 2009.

Visit Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You website for more information on electronic goods recycling.

Flares (distress signals from boats – requirement of NSW Maritime)

It is compulsory to carry distress flares on boats in NSW. Flares are classified as an explosive.

Police Stations will accept flares in the safe disposal method of:

Flare must be submersed in water within a plastic container with a secure lid.

This is the only safe disposal method, and is a joint agreement between NSW Maritime, Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) and NSW Police Service. For further details please contact DECC on 1300 787 870.

Fridge

See Refrigerator

Guttering – Metal

Donate to Second-hand Building Materials Supplier. Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Try Construction Connect or alternatively the Australian Recycling Community. Refer to your local yellow pages for a list of metal recyclers.

Light Globes and Florescent Tubes

These are now accepted at the Household Chemical CleanOut collections.

Mattresses

Mosman encourages residents to recycle their mattresses instead of sending them to landfill. Call Dreamsafe Recycling Pty Ltd on 1300 551 245 or visit www.dreamsafe.com.au to have your mattress picked up from your house and recycled. Fees apply, approximately $25 for the first mattress and $15 for any subsequent pieces. Dreamsafe will either recycle your mattress (including springs, foam, wood, coconut fibre, casters & legs) or, if your mattress is in relatively good condition, they will clean and sanitise your mattress and send it to a charity.

Alternatively, residents can book a Council pre-paid collection service or wait for Council’s biannual household clean up service. However, please note that these services do not currently ‘recycle’ mattresses. For more information call the Waste Line on 9978 4076.

Mobile Phones & Batteries

Mobile phones and accessories can be recycled through the official mobile phone industry recycling program MobileMuster. Mosman Council supports this program and residents can drop off any unwanted mobile phones and accessories to the following locations in Mosman. Look for the MobileMuster collection box.

  • Mosman Council Civic Centre – Mosman Square
  • Mosman Library – Military Road
  • SmartTime Communications (Vodafone) – Shop 4, 573 Military Road
  • ANZ Bank – Mosman Junction – 793 Military Road
  • Cartridge World – Mosman – 114 Glover Street

For more information, or to locate other collection points, please visit www.mobilemuster.com.au or call 1300 730 070.

Alternatively, Clean Up Australia collect and recycle mobile phones. To request a postage-paid satchel call 1800 024 890 or visit www.cleanup.com.au.

Office furniture

Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Try Construction Connect or alternatively the Australian Recycling Community.

Oil – cooking

Unwanted cooking oil (large quantities) should be disposed of properly. Visit Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You website and search by product to obtain a list of recyclers.

Pallets

Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Refer to your local yellow pages for a list of Pallet recyclers. Try Construction Connect or the Australian Recycling Community.

Perspex

Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Refer to your local yellow pages for a list of Perspex recyclers. Try Construction Connect, Australian Recycling Community or donate to Reverse Garbage Marrickville.

Pine – treated

Do not burn CCA or PCP-treated wood.

Currently, small volumes of CCA-treated timber wastes or off-cuts from domestic or residential uses should be disposed of at Kimbriki Waste & Recycling Centre.

Treated timber has been listed as a “waste of concern” by the NSW government under its extended producer responsibility policy. The timber industry is currently researching chemical free wood preservation techniques for radiata pine (e.g. thermal modification).

See the Total Environment Centre’s Safer Solutions website for safer alternatives.

Plastic bags – supermarket

Say NO to Plastic Bags when shopping, take reuseable alternatives like calico, go-green polypropylene or string bags. Alternatively, recycle your plastic bags at local supermarkets such as Woolworths or Coles. Be careful to check which plastic bags are accepted at the recycling bins – they usually only accept the supermarket style shopping bag (HDPE), not the heavier bags used by other retailers (LDPE). To find out how you or your business can get involved in Clean Up Australia’s ‘Say NO to Plastic Bags’ campaign visit www.cleanup.com.au or call 1800 024 890.

Refrigerator

Fridge Buyback

Free in-home collection of old second fridge. Conditions apply. A $35 payment is given for removal from a residence of 6 stairs or less. If you have a working second fridge that is at least 10 years old and larger than 250L you can save both energy and money by contacting Fridge Buyback on 1800 708 401 or visit www.fridgebuyback.com.au. Save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions!

Reuse It – Shops & Websites

Don’t throw things away – someone else might be able to put it to good service.

  • E-cycled.com or Freecycle Today are easy ways to get in touch with people in your area who are looking for things you don’t need any more, and that you want
  • Reverse Garbage, located at the Addison Road Community Centre Marrickville, is a not-for-profit co-operative that sells industrial discards, off-cuts and over-runs to the public for creative and practical uses, reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. For more information visit www.reversegarbage.org.au or contact 9569 3132.

Return Unwanted Medicines

The OPAL/RUM project provides a convenient and environmentally responsible solution for the collection and disposal of unwanted medicines. Many pharmacies in the northern Sydney region act as collection points for unwanted and out of date medicines. Phone OPAL/RUM on 1300 650 835 or visit www.returnmed.com.au.

Syringes / Sharps Disposal

Residents have a number of options for sharps disposal:

  • Consult your local doctor or pharmacy to negotiate sharps disposal.
  • Contact Diabetes Australia NSW on 1300 136 588:
  • Alternatively, visit Clinic 16, Royal North Shore Hospital, Herbert Street, St Leonards.

Timber

Donate timber (un-treated) to a second-hand building materials supplier. Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Try Construction Connect or alternatively the Australian Recycling Community.

Toner Cartridges

See Cartridges – printer.

Window

Donate to a second-hand building materials supplier. Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Try Construction Connect or alternatively the Australian Recycling Community.

X-rays

Visit Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You website and search by product to obtain a list of recyclers.