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Recycling in the City of Whittlesea

Recycling in the City of Whittlesea

June 2022 in Events & Local Area

Recycling in the City of Whittlesea.

Small acts make a big impact

Small acts, like putting the right things into the right bins, disposing of other hard rubbish appropriately, remembering to take your reusables when you leave home or sticking to your shopping list, can all have a significant impact on our environment.

To follow is our simple guide to recycling in the City of Whittlesea to help Peppercorn Hill residents manage their household waste and recycling as effectively and efficiently as possible – so everyone benefits!

Let’s start with your Council bins.

The City of Whittlesea provides every household with one 120-litre garbage bin and one 240-litre recycling bin. Plus, you can pay a small annual fee to have a 240-litre food and garden waste bin, where you can dispose of compostable food and garden waste and, from the second half of this year, the Council will also be rolling out a new 120-litre glass recycling service to all households. Garbage bins are collected weekly, while recycling and food and garden waste bins are collected fortnightly on the same day as garbage bins.

So what items can you put in each bin?

your garbage bin

It’s fine to put the following items in your garbage bin…

  • Baby, hand and face wipes
  • Bones and meats
  • Ceramic cookware
  • Cigarette butts
  • Coffee pods
  • Disposable masks and gloves
  • Disposable plates, cups and cutlery
  • Food and garden waste
  • Glass waste and ceramics including crockery, drinking glasses, Pyrex glass, ovenware and light bulbs
  • Lids from plastic bottles
  • Milk and juice cartons
  • Medicines
  • Nappies, sanitary and incontinence products
  • Polystyrene food and drink containers, trays and packaging
  • Plant pots
  • Plastic straws and takeaway coffee cups
  • Plastic toys
  • Soft plastics including food/cling wrap, plastic bags and bubble wrap
  • Tea bags
  • Tissues, shredded paper, tissue paper, serviettes, receipts and paper towel
  • Waxed cardboard and food soiled cardboard
  • Window glass and mirrors

…but not these!

  • Batteries (household and car)
  • Building/renovation materials
  • E-waste
  • Fluorescent light globes, mobile phones and accessories, cameras and accessories
  • Gas or helium bottles
  • Hot ash
  • Household chemicals
  • Recyclable items
  • Soil, rocks or bricks
  • Syringes

 

your recycling bin

Acceptable items include…

  • Cans and tins
  • Foil (scrunched into a ball)
  • Glass bottles and jars including metal lids (no plastic bottle lids)
  • Paper and cardboard (excluding paper/hand towels, shopping receipts, serviettes and tissues)
  • Plastic bottles and containers labelled with code 1,2,3,4 or 5 (no plastic bottle lids)

Just remember to rinse clean items and remove all food and liquid from packaging.

However, you should not put the following items in your recycling bin as they cannot be recycled through this service:

  • Bagged rubbish
  • Batteries (household and car)
  • Disposable masks and gloves
  • Disposable plates, cups and cutlery
  • E-waste
  • Food and garden waste
  • Fluorescent light globes
  • Glass waste and ceramics including crockery, drinking glasses, Pyrex glass, ovenware, window glass, mirrors and light bulbs
  • Gas or helium bottles
  • Household chemicals
  • Household goods and furniture
  • Lids from plastic bottles
  • Milk and juice cartons 
  • Nappies, sanitary and incontinence products
  • Paper towel, tissue paper, shredded paper, tissues, serviettes and shopping receipts
  • Polystyrene food and drink containers, trays and packaging
  • Scrap metal and car parts
  • Soft plastics including food/cling wrap, plastic bags and bubble wrap
  • Syringes
  • Takeaway coffee cups and lids
  • Waxed cardboard and food soiled cardboard or paper
  • X-rays

Many of these items can damage the material sorting facility's machinery, increasing processing costs.

Food & Garden Waste Bin

Items that can be placed in your food and garden waste bin include:

  • Fruit and vegetables
  • Egg shells
  • Bread scraps 
  • Dairy products
  • Cake scraps
  • Loose tea leaves and coffee grounds
  • Meat and seafood
  • Tissue, serviettes, paper towel and shredded paper
  • Food scraps
  • Small branches
  • Leaves
  • Prunings
  • Grass clippings
  • Flowers
  • Common weeds

However, the following items cannot be composted at the composting facility. So it’s best to make sure they don’t end up in your food and garden waste bin.

  • Plastic bags and plastic packaging (including bags, cling wrap, ties)
  • Dog or cat droppings
  • Kitty litter
  • Household garbage and cigarette butts
  • Nappies and baby wipes
  • Coffee pods and takeaway coffee cups
  • Tea bags 
  • Products labelled as compostable (such as coffee cups, plates and take away containers). Compostable bin liners are ok.
  • Plant pots
  • Tree stumps and ash
  • Vacuum dust
  • Hair (including pet hair)
  • Paper plates and coffee cups
  • Wooden icy pole sticks
  • Scrap metal
  • Recyclable items
  • Glass
  • Sharps, medicines, batteries and toys
  • Bricks/concrete/soil
  • Cardboard boxes/pizza boxes

Glass recycling

Glass bottles and jars need to be separated from other recyclables as glass frequently breaks during the recycling process, contaminating any paper and plastics it’s mixed in with. 

Keeping glass separate will mean that the materials collected can be more effectively recycled into new glass products such as bottles and jars, and even used in construction as a road base.

You can pre-book a free hard rubbish collection from your nature strip twice per calendar year. Your hard rubbish is collected and taken to Wollert landfill. Contact the City of Whittlesea to book a collection before placing items on your nature strip.

What about other household waste that can’t be included in your kerbside collection bin bins?

Hard Rubbish

For household items that are broken or can’t be reused, repaired or recycled, you can pre-book a free hard rubbish collection from your nature strip twice per calendar year and your hard rubbish will be collected and taken to Wollert landfill.

Acceptable hard waste items include the following...

  • Blankets
  • Boxes of odds and ends
  • Broken toys and rags
  • Curtains that can’t be reused
  • Furniture – with doors taped and securely tied
  • Mattresses and bed bases
  • Small amounts of timber offcuts – you can also drop these off for free at the Council’s Timber Waste Facility with the vouchers on your rates notice.  
  • Wrapped glass

… while the following will need to be disposed of by other means.

  • Air conditioning units
  • Aerosol cans
  • Basketball rings, unless dismantled
  • Building or renovation materials
  • Car parts or tyres
  • Carpet or underlay
  • Compressors
  • Concrete, rubble or soil
  • Corrugated sheeting
  • Fence palings
  • Recycling or garden waste
  • Furniture with untied doors
  • Hot water services
  • Liquids, chemicals or unidentifiable items
  • Locked containers e.g. suitcases, filing cabinets
  • Oil heaters
  • Trampolines, unless dismantled
  • Unwrapped glass or polystyrene
  • Whitegoods

The following privately-owned local facilities recycle green waste, timber waste, white goods and PVC pipe waste. These facilities are only licensed to accept certain items, and do not accept mixed loads. Charges may apply.

Green waste and brick recycling facility

The Green Waste and Brick Recycling Facility accepts the green waste disposal vouchers and brick and rubble waste vouchers  found on your Rates Notice. The site also sells high-quality compost.

Timber waste recycling

EcoDynamics in Epping will accept fence palings, packing crates, pallets and timber off-cuts but not laminated or painted timber, melamine, treated pine or plaster.

Getting rid of chemicals

You should never put chemical waste in your Council bins or pour it down the drain as it can harm your family and pets, add extra fuel to a house fire, release toxic fumes and damage the environment.

You can safely dispose of toxic household chemicals like solvents, poisons, cleaning products, fertilisers and car care products at Sustainability Victoria’s Detox Your Home events, while household paint, batteries (household and car) and fluorescent lights can be disposed of throughout the year at one of the area’s permanent drop-off sites including the Hume City Council Resource Recovery Centre, Darebin Resource Recovery Centre or the Banyule Waste Recovery Centre.

For further information including tips on safely transporting household chemicals, phone Sustainability Victoria on 1800 353 233.

Skip bins

You can always use a skip bin as part of your clean-up at home. But remember to obtain a skip bin permit before you arrange for a container to be placed on a road or on Council land or risk a fine of up to $800. If the skip can fit on your own property, then you don't need a permit.

E-Waste

Since 1 July 2019, the Victorian Government has banned the disposal of e-waste to landfill. This means you can no longer throw old electrical items in the bin.

So what is e-waste (electronic waste)? The term refers to any item with a plug, battery or cord that is no longer working or wanted from smaller household items such as toasters, kettles, irons, lamps, battery operated or electronic toys, hairdryers, fans, heaters and printers to larger household white goods such as washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, freezers, ovens and microwaves. Home entertainment products such as televisions, CD players, DVD players, tablets, laptops, computers, mobile phones and other handheld electronic devises and electrical gardening equipment such as hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, electric chainsaws, whipper snippers and electric lawn mowers are also considered e-waste.

However, City of Whittlesea residents can drop off their e-waste for free at Hanson’s Wollert Landfill, 55 Bridge Inn Road, Wollert. Whitegoods can also be collected for free by phoning Kids Off The Kerb on 9982 5600.

Or you can take cameras, mobile phones, household batteries, CDs, DVDs, fluorescent light globes, printer cartridges, X-rays and small e-waste items like MP3 players to one of the Council’s recycling stations located at:

  • Lalor Library, 2A May Road, Lalor
  • Civic Centre, 25 Ferres Boulevard, South Morang
  • Epping Depot, 68-96 Houston Street, Epping
  • Galada Community Centre, 10a Forum Way, Epping
  • Laurimar Activity Centre, 110 Hazel Glen Drive, Doreen
  • Whittlesea Library, 57-61 Laurel Street, Whittlesea
  • Thomastown Library, 52 Main St, Thomastown
  • Mill Park Library, 394 Plenty Road, Mill Park

For further information, visit https://www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/waste-environment.

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