E-waste
Australians are among the highest users of electronics in the world. It's no surprise that our e-waste - or electronic waste - is growing three times faster than the rate of our regular garbage.
E-waste needs to be kept out of landfill as it leaches hazardous materials like mercury and lead into our environment. E-waste also contains valuable materials that should be re-used instead of being lost to landfill.
The good news is we have a number of ways to help you dispose of your e-waste responsibly.
E-waste collection service
This new service allows you to book in a free collection of your unwanted e-waste. All you need to do is book in a collection (available Monday-Friday) and leave your e-waste on your kerb (or rear lane if you have one) for collection by the next business day.
Items accepted
- Desktop computers, monitors, keyboards, mice and cables
- Laptop computers, tablets, GPS & PDA units
- Printers, scanners, copy and fax machines (household size)
- Hard drives and modems
- Video game consoles, devices and controllers/joysticks
- Mobile phones, landlines phones and cameras
- Televisions, CD players and DVD players
- Loose CDs and DVDs (please no plastic cases)
- Small appliances like blenders, toasters, kettles, hair dryers etc.
- Medium appliances like vacuum cleaners, power tools, coffee machines etc.
Your data is your responsibility. Make sure all data is permanently wiped from your device before it is picked up or dropped off. Council's recycling process does not include the removal of data from devices.
Large items can be presented loosely by the kerbside in front of your home or rear lane. You may box smaller items like cables, modems, hard drives, etc. but NO plastic bags please.
Items NOT accepted
- Whitegoods - fridges, stoves, microwaves etc. Put these out on your scheduled clean-up day.
- Batteries - small household and vehicle batteries - drop these off at a chemical clean out collection. Household batteries can also be taken to the collection point at the Woollahra Library in Double Bay or Paddington Library.
- LED lights, fluorescent light tubes and globes (see chemical cleanout collection).
- Video and cassette tapes (see scheduled clean-up day).
- E-waste from business (see business recycling)
- Any other item that is not deemed e-waste as part of this service.
How do I book a collection?
There are a few options for booking a collection. You can:
The collection will occur within 24 hours of booking, or the next business day. Please place your e-waste neatly at the kerbside, or your rear lane if you have one, on the same day as the booking is made. Make sure all personal data is deleted from devices.
There are no limits to the amount of collections per year, but they must be booked in.
How is the e-waste recycled?
The e-waste collected by Council is processed by Tech Collect and SIMS Recycling Solutions. The material is shredded and will be separated into various streams e.g. metals, plastics, glass and then sent for further processing to convert back into raw usable materials. If you would like to know more, take a look at this short video of the SIMS recycling process.
Re-use is better than recycling
If you think your e-waste might be of interest to someone else, you can list it for free on our iWasteless noticeboard.
It's easy. Just post a photo, add a description of your item/s and place it on the grass verge in front of your property.
Within 24 hours of listing, your free e-waste item will either be snapped up by someone who has seen it on the noticeboard, or our e-waste collection service will make the pick-up. Either way you will be helping us reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by promoting re-use and recycling.
If you choose to list your item on the noticeboard we ask that you remove all personal data and information before presenting it for collection. Woollahra Council does not engage in communication between people listing or collecting items on the noticeboard. Read the full terms and conditions.(PDF, 69KB)
Other options
If you cannot make it to the e-waste collection day, televisions and computers/computer related equipment can be dropped of at the Randwick Recycling Centre, 72 Perry Street, Matraville.
Alternatively, take a look at the following websites to find other recycling solutions for your e-waste: