Recycle

Recycling is the last step but still an important one. Become a smart recycler by making sure your kerbside recycling bin is free from contamination and only placing items inside accepted by your local Council. 

On most plastic packaging, you’ll find a triangle with a number in the middle – this is called the Plastics Identification Code. Read this guide to find out what each number means and whether they can be recycled.

Check out your local council recycling collection page to know which items can be recycled in your yellow bin. Each council’s recyclable items are different depending on the recycling sorting company that has been contracted and their buyers of recyclable materials. If in doubt, ask your Council by phone or email. 

Most Councils have a Transfer Station or Waste hub accepting items like electronics (anything with a cord or battery), mattresses, styrofoam, metal and more. This information will be found on your Council website. 

There are many items that can be recycled outside of your kerbside recycling bin. Recycling Near Me is a helpful website to find out where to recycle harder items. 

  • After offers a home collection service for your used and unwearable clothing, which is then recycled by their textile recycling partners.
  • ASGA Save Our Soles takes shoes like runners, sneakers, football boots, athletic lifestyle shoes, thongs and slides for recycling at a range of in-store locations
  • Australian Clothing Recycler – We collect all wearable clothing items shoes, manchester, accessories and handbags. Please donate items that are in a condition where you would be happy to wear them again.
  • Cloth Nappy Workshops Melbourne – A place where you can learn everything you need to know about cloth nappies and many other reusable products.
  • Clothing Cleanup offers a pick-up service in Sydney for wearable clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories (including hats, belts, scarves) and manchester.
  • Clothing retailers H&M, ZaraUpparel (formerly Manrags) and Uniqlo each have garment collection programs for clothing or textiles, which they reuse or recycle.
  • Dress For Success and Fitted for Work are both programs in Australia that help women experiencing disadvantage to find work and keep it. They do this by providing free programs, professional attire, and career mentoring and development. Visit their websites to find out what type of clothing is suitable to donate or other ways that you can help.
  • Foamex – Don’t put your polystyrene packaging from your household appliances in landfill. Give it to us instead. Clean, expanded polystyrene can be 100% recycled. Click here to download our flyer for more information.
  • Loop Upcycling offers upcycling & recycling services & solutions for corporate workwear, supporting companies in reducing their waste and adopting more sustainable and circular waste management practices, in partnership with local, community organisations, providing training and employment to people experiencing disadvantage (mainly refugees, new migrants and victims of domestic abuse).
  • Macpac and Patagonia both have trade-in programs for their own pre-loved clothing, where customers can return their worn-out or damaged clothing for store credit.
  • MobeCo – accept old Yoga equipment and self massage tools.
  • Oz Bread Tags for Wheelchairs – We collect plastic bread tags nationally in Australia. The tags are recycled locally, raising funds to buy wheelchairs for disadvantaged people, mainly in South Africa.
  • Planet Ark – Planet Ark Environmental Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that helps individuals, communities, governments and businesses reduce their impact on the environment.
  • PP5 – the recycling service for your PP5 plastic plant pot and label waste. Largely, in Australia, plant pots and labels are made from PP5 plastic – a plastic that can be recycled over and over again. However, currently only 8% of this plastic found in plant pots gets recycled. This is where we come in. We want to collect and recycle your PP5 plastic plant pots and labels and give them another plant pot life. All we need from you, is to find your nearest PP5 collection point and bring us your plant pots and labels. PP5 collection points can be found at around 30 locations Australia wide at participating suppliers and retailers.
  • Priceline in partnership with TerraCycle – Make-up packaging can be dropped at Priceline stores.
  • Recycling Made Easy– An independent Melbourne recycling directory for many items that cannot be put in the yellow bin.
  • REDcycle- Drop off soft plastics at Woolworths and Coles REDcycle bins. Check out their website to know what happens to collected soft plastics. 
  • Sheridan accept pre-loved sheets and towels from any brand at your local Sheridan store.
  • Shoes for Planet Earth – An Australian based non-for-profit organisation started in 2009 by people who love to run and want to give something back. We’re working together with local communities to provide recycled running shoes to those in need around Australia.
  • Soles4Souls – Australian charity collects new, used and worn sneakers, sandals, boots and shoes for children, women and men in need around the world. In total, more than 100,000 pairs of shoes have been donated and distributed to people in need.
  • The Uniform Exchange has provided a second life for thousands of school uniforms. The website provides the community with a free platform to sell, buy or donate second-hand school uniforms for every school in Australia.
  • TreadLightly is a national recycling initiative that recycles unwanted sport and active lifestyle footwear.
  • Upparel – Textile recycler who pioneered a digital textile recycling revolution that changed the planet forever.
  • Worn Up which offers to collect textile waste from Schools with large quantities of uniforms can contact the sustainable start-up and transform them into new products such as  desks that can be used again by students.

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