Specialist Recycling
Just because certain items can’t be recycled in Council recycling bins (or at transfer stations) doesn’t mean they need to end up in landfill. To make sure we are all taking greater responsibility for our waste at home or work, many common hard to recycle household waste items can actually be re-processed via specialist recycling programs available to residents here in the Cairns region.
To take advantage of these programs may require some extra effort on our behalf, but with more of us taking these small actions each day we are sure to have a big impact on protecting the environment.
Specialist recycling opportunities for Cairns residents:
| Item | Specialist Recycler | Actions to take |
|---|---|---|
| Soft plastics | Redcycle | The REDcycle program has temporarily paused. REDcycle regrettably has temporarily paused its soft plastics collection program, effective as of 9 November 2022. REDcycle and its partners are committed to having the program back up and running as soon as possible. For further information visit Redcycle's homepage. |
| Nespresso Coffee Pods | Nespresso and Terracycle | Nespresso offer recycling options for their pods, simply add a popostage-paidecycling satchel to your next coffee order. Able to hold 180 standard pods, this equates to just over two cents per pod to ensure that these waste items are recycled. View the recycling pod satchel option on Nespresso's website. For non-nespresso recycling options view Terracycle's postage paid zero waste boxes. |
| Beauty products | Terracycle | Visit Terracycle's website to purchase a postage paid beauty products zero waste box, setup your own community group/work collection point. |
| Household batteries | Council transfer Stations and libraries, battery world | Visit Smithfield, Portsmith, Gordonvale, Babinda transfer stations, (view Council transfer station information, address and opening hours), Visit Cairns Libraries Branches for household battery drop off - (view Cairns Libraries information, address and opening hours) |
| Bottle tops and caps | Terracycle | Visit Terracycle's website to purchase a postage paid bottle tops zero waste box, setup your own community group/work collection point. |
| Printer cartridges | Planet Ark | Drop off your used or empty laser and inkjet cartridges at all Officeworks stores and participating Australia Post, Cartridge World, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi, Office National and Office Products Depot outlets. Visit Planet Ark's website for further details. |
| Cassette, CD, DVD discs | Terracycle | Visit Terracycle's website to purchase a postage paid media storage zero waste box, setup your own community group/work collection point. |
| Cigarette waste | Terracycle | Visit Terracycle's website to purchase a postage paid media storage zero waste box, setup your own community group/work collection point. |
| Drums - Agricultural and veterinary chemical | Agsafe | DrumMUSTER collects eligible non-returnable metal or plastic containers above one litre/kilogram and up to 205 litre/ kilogram in declared content in the packaging of crop production and animal health products used for: agricultural and livestock production. Visit Drummusters website for further information about the program. |
| Fabrics, clothing | Charities and Redcycle | Important note: Clothes in good condition should be donated to local charities, Lifeline, Salavation Army, St Vinnies stores in Cairns. Fabrics/Clothes can be recycled through Terracycle's Farbics Zero Waste Box. |
| Mobile phones andaccessories | Cairns Phone outlets, Council Transfer Stations | Recycle at your local Optus, Telstra, Vodafone and Officeworks stores, search for your nearest Mobile Muster drop off locations in Cairns or take for free to Portsmith, Smithfield, Gordonvale and Babinda Transfer Stations. |
| Shoes - Sport and Activewear | Treadlightly Recycling Program | If in poor condition shoes can be disposed of in your waste bin. If in good condition consider donation through local charities. Sports & Active footwear (rubber sole shoes only) can also be recycled through participating local Retailers (as part of the 'Treadlightly recycling program'). Currently participating stores include Athlete’s Foot Cairns, Converse Cairns, Rebel Cairns. |
| X-rays | Eco-cycle | Cairns residents are able to post x-ray films to Eco-cycle located in Hemant, Brisbane, at the address: 1/1204 Lytton Road, Hemmant, QLD 4174. For further information about x-ray recycling visit Eco-cycle's website. |
*The list above is a snapshot of the common items available for re-processing. Further items (and associated options) are regularly added to the list for reprocessing 'hard to recycle items' in Australia. Be sure to visit Planet Ark's Recycling Near You or Terracycle's websites for the latest updates.
Last Updated: 16 March 2023
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