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!



This guide was last updated on 4 September 2012. If you see any information that should be amended, please email council@mosman.nsw.gov.au.

Baths, bathroom sinks, vanity

Drop off for recycling at Kimbriki. Donate to a second-hand building materials supplier. Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Try 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 by taking them to the Civic Centre Mosman and placing the in the E-waste Recycling Unit alternatively at 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.

Mobile Phones can also be recycled at the Civic Centre in the same box as your household batteries.

See Mobile Phones below for mobile phone battery recycling.

Carry bags – plastic

Refer to Plastic Bags – supermarket.

Cartridges – printer

Ink cartriges and small toner cartriges can be taken to the Civic Centre Mosman and placed in the same E-waste Recycling Unit and section as your household batteries and mobile phones.
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.

CDs & DVDs

Send your discs to: Australian Plastics Reprocessing, 7 Benley St, Wetherill Park, NSW 2164. We suggest that you separate the discs from their cases and printed papers before sending them.

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, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) 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

More information and disposal options on our e-waste page.

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.

DS

Small DS items can be taken to the Civic Centre Mosman and placed in the E-waste Recycling Unit (note DS items are placed in a different section to batteries and mobile phones)

Electrical and Electronic Goods

More information and disposal options on our e-waste page.

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!

See Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You website for more options for 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.

Contact the manufacturer or supplier of out of date flares to dispose of the explosives for you.

Alternatively, NSW Maritime headquarters on James Craig Road, Rozelle, will accept them. They must be sealed in a seal lock bag (like glad bags) and presented to the front reception. Office hours are 8:30am to 4:30pm. Phone 13 12 56 (select option 2).

Fridge

See Refrigerator

GPS

Small handheld GPS items can be taken to the Civic Centre Mosman and placed in the E-waste Recycling Unit (note GPS units are placed in a different section to batteries and mobile phones)

Guttering – Metal

Drop off for recycling at Kimbriki. Donate to Second-hand Building Materials Supplier. Sell in local papers, trading post or e-bay. Try 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 Kimbriki ( there is a charge).

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 Library – Military Road
  • SmartTime Communications (Vodafone) – Shop 4, 573 Military Road
  • Officeworks – 640 Military Road
  • Spit Junction – Post Shop 60 Spit Rd Spit Junction – envelopes only
  • Mosman Post – Shop 846 Military Rd- envelopes only
  • Cartridge World – Mosman – 114 Glover Street

The Civic Centre Mosman has an E-waste Recycling Unit that is suitable for small e-waste items and includes a provision for mobile phones.

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.

The Apple Recycling Program takes iPods & iPhones. The Civic Centre Mosman has an E-waste Recycling unit that is suitable for small e-waste items and includes a section for iPods, iphones

MP3 Player

MP3 players can be taken to the Civic Centre Mosman and placed in the E-waste Recycling Unit (note MP3 players are placed in a different section to batteries and mobile phones)

Office furniture

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

Junk mail

If you want to stop receiving junk mail, put a NO JUNK MAIL sticker on your letterbox. These are available for free from the Distribution Standards Board, phone 1800 676 136.

To stop junk mail that is addressed to a household resident, register with the Australian Direct Marketing Organisation.

If you still receive advertising mail you don’t want, call the Distribution Standards Board.

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.

Paint (household)

If the paint cans are clean and empty, they can go straight into the yellow lidded bin for recycling.

If there is still wet or dry paint in the cans, these will need to go either to the next Chemical CleanOut event or to a landfill that will accept them. (Paint is classified as chemical hazardous waste, that’s why we cannot accept paint in waste bins or council clean ups.)

The SITA Artarmon facility accepts household paint. For more information, including costs and disposal process, see their website.

Pallets

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

Refrigerators

Fridge Buyback

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 has been in regular use, is 200 litres or more in size and built before 1996, or an upright freezer that has been in regular use, is 200 litres or more in size and built before 1996, 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!

Harvey Norman Store at Balgowlah (76-190 Condamine Street) will take back white goods such as fridges, washing machines, etc for recycling, only upon purchase and delivery of new goods.

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 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 the Australian Recycling Community.

X-rays

Quantum Technical Services collect and recycles x-rays at 1/30 Glendenning Road, Glendenning. See website of parent company Siltech.

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