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.
Participating with 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Batteries (Household) | Supermarkets, Electronics Retailers & more Council Transfer Stations and Libraries | Household batteries can be dropped off for free at Bunnings, Woolworths , Coles, IGA Supermarkets, JB Hifi, Good Guys, Cairns Hardware, Battery World and many other stores. Visit 'B-Cycles' Webpage for further information about your nearest drop off point or to learn more about Australian Battery Recycling. Council also offers free household battery drop off at the following locations: Smithfield, Portsmith, Gordonvale, Babinda Transfer Stations, (view Council transfer station information, address and opening hours) or Cairns Libraries Branches (view Cairns Libraries information, address and opening hours). |
| Beauty products | Terracycle | Visit Terracycle's website to view free drop off programs provided by L'Occitane, Garnier, Schwarzkopf, Sephoora, Sukin, Kiehl's, Maybelline, MECCA, MooGoo, Olay. |
| Blister Packs (Pill Packets) | Pharmacycle | Medicinal blister packs and medication dosage aids (plastic blisters with aluminium or paper–aluminium foil) can be returned for recycling at these Cairns pharmacies: * Chemist Warehouse Bentley Village * Chemist Warehouse Cairns * Calanna TerryWhite Chemmart. For additional drop‑off sites nationwide, or to register as a collection point, visit the Pharmacycle website. |
| 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. |
| Coffee Pods | Nespresso & Terracycle | Recycle your coffee pods easily:
|
| Cassette, CD, DVD discs | Officeworks & Terracycle | Officeworks Cairns will accept drop off of CD & DVD Media, see in store for details. You can also 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. |
| Children's Toys | Cairns Toy Library & Participating Big W Stores | Residents can donate clean, good-quality wooden or plastic toys that are in working order and meet Australian safety standards. Please note that plush toys, handmade items, and toys with many missing pieces cannot be accepted. For more details, visit the Cairns Toy Library website. Participating Big W Stores also provide toy donation through the 'Toys For Joy' Program. View BigW's website for further information. |
| Latex & Foil Balloons | Terracycle | Recycle any brand of latex & foil balloons at Gift of the Gab Smithfield, Balloons ETC Earlville or visit Terracycles website for further information. |
| Mobile phones and accessories | Cairns Phone outlets, Officeworks, 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. |
| Oral Care Products | Colgate & Terracycle | Visit Terracycle's website for further information about participating local drop off locations for any brand of oral care products & packaging. |
| 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. |
| Pet Food Packaging | Terracycle | Drop off locations including Petstock Cairns Stores, Ulysses Veterinary Clinic, RSPCA Cairns, Marlin Coast Veterinary Hospital. Visit Terracycles Website for further information. |
| Paint (Household) | Paint Back Scheme | Council Transfer Stations will accept a maximum of 100 litres in volume per visit, carriered in secured containers no larger than 20 litres. Visit Paintback's Website for the full list of accepted and unaccepted paints. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Writing Instruments | Officeworks & Terracycle | Officeworks Cairns will accept drop off of writting instruments, see instore for details. Australian School's can also create a free account with Terracycle to setup their own free in-school return program as part of BIC's Best in Class Recycling Program. Visit Terracycle's website for further information. |
| 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. |
* To access more current Know Before You Throw information and additional specialist drop‑off options, use the Sort My Waste page. It’s powered by Recycle Mate, a free and user‑friendly tool available on iOS, Android, and the web.
Last Updated: 27 April 2026
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