Recycling
If you have a kerbside recycling bin service, it makes recycling at home easy. Unfortunately, this great effort can literally go to waste by contamination - putting items in the bin that aren’t accepted for recycling, or products that haven’t been cleaned out properly. Disposing of recyclables is free (up to a 240L wheelie bin) for Gladstone Region residents, so separating your recyclables from other rubbish will save you considerable money and time at the tip or transfer station.
It’s important to put the correct items in the bin, to ensure everything gets recycled.
e-Waste
MobileMuster
Containers for Change
Sustainable living tips
A few general tips for better recycling
- Find out what recycling options are available near you for recycling items like e-waste, batteries, and paint.
- You can put drink containers in your recycling bin at home or collect your 10 cent refund on eligible containers by dropping them into your nearest container refund point.
- Do not put your recyclables into the recycling bin in a plastic bag
- Clean out your recycling items to make sure they are accepted for recycling—a quick rinse or a scrape out of left-over food can make all the difference
- Keep grass clippings, garden waste, food and liquid out of your recycling bin, as they can ruin items and make them unsuitable for recycling
- Do not put soft, scrunchable plastics in the recycling bin, instead fill up a bag each week with soft plastics and drop them into a REDcycle bin at your nearest participating supermarket
- Recycle your coffee cup lids and drop the cups into participating stores for recycling (or better still, bring your own cup!).
The majority of rubbish generated in the home can be recycled and placed into the yellow lidded bin, these include:
- Glass - no need to crush it!
- Sauce jars
- Jam jars
- Soft drink bottles
- Alcohol bottles (green, brown and white)
- These items do not include Pyrex/crockery products
- Paper
- Clean newspaper
- Cardboard (except wax coated)
- Magazines & advertising brochures
- Toilet paper rolls
- Wrapping paper
- Office paper
- Phone books
- Plastic
- Juice/Milk bottles
- Ice cream containers and lids
- Margarine tubs
- Shampoo/Conditioner containers
- Soft drink bottles
- Yoghurt containers
- Steel/Aluminium - if it's in a tin and a magnet sticks to it - it's recyclable!
- Coffee cans
- Food cans
- Pet food tins
- Aerosol containers
- Alcohol Cans
- Softdrink cans
Check your containers for the above symbol - if you cannot find this symbol, it is generally not recyclable.
e-Waste
The TechCollect e-waste service for Gladstone Region residents and small businesses is free and funded by more than 60 national television and computer manufacturers as part of their responsibility to the environment.
TechCollect is a not-for-profit initiative which helps divert material from landfill and allows for the recovering and reprocessing of glass, plastics and metals for the manufacture of other products.
Council provides this service at:
- Benaraby Landfill
- Gladstone Transfer Station.
Items that are recovered as e-waste include
- Desktop and laptop computers
- Tablets, notebooks and palmtops
- Computer cables
- Computer monitors and parts (eg internal hard drives and CD drives)
- Computer peripherals and accessories (eg mice, keyboards, web cameras)
- Printers, faxes, scanners and multi-functional devices
- Televisions.
Whitegoods, such as fridges, freezers and washing machines, are recyclable at all Council Waste Transfer stations. This is a service that is separate to the TechCollect e-waste program.
Items that cannot be dropped off as e-waste are
- Game consoles
- DVDs and CDs
- Microwaves
- Vacuum cleaners
- Video/DVD players/recorders
- Household appliances
- Power tools
- Radios
- Stereo/sound equipment.
Visit TechCollect's website for more information about what can and can't be dropped off as e-Waste.
Recycling schemes (non-Council)
MobileMuster
The MobileMuster program focuses on recycling mobile phones, batteries and accessories to recover useable materials and prevent unnecessary landfill.
Mobile phones are almost 100 per cent recyclable and Council strongly encourages residents to recycle their mobile phones and chargers.
MobileMuster collection boxes located throughout the region:
- Boyne Tannum Community Centre and Library
- Calliope and Gladstone City Libraries
- Council's Calliope, Gladstone, Miriam Vale Offices
- Gladstone Community Engagement Centre
- Agnes Water and Mount Larcom Rural Transaction Centres
- Benaraby Landfill and Gladstone Waste Management Centre
- Tondoon Botanic Gardens Visitor Information Centre
Containers for Change
Queensland’s container refund scheme, known as Containers for Change, officially started state-wide on 1 November 2018.
This recycling/refund scheme is not a service provided by Council. The Queensland Government has appointed industry-based, not-for-profit group Container Exchange to develop and run the container refund scheme in Queensland.
Introduction of the scheme will help increase recycling and reduce the number of drink containers that litter our environment.
Sustainable living tips around the home
Energy saving in your business Environmental monitoring Sustainable housing Energy-efficient homes Qld Government waste management and regulations Disposal of light bulbs