For Occupational Health and Safety reasons, there are other types of waste which are not collected by the standard services. These are:
- Household Hazardous Waste
- Chemical CleanOut drop-off dates
- Building/Renovation Waste
- Household Medical Waste
- Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) Programme
- E-Waste
- Useful links
On certain days during the year, not-for-profit organisations run special events for the general community, schools and businesses. These events give everyone an opportunity to volunteer and, by removing rubbish from beaches, parks, roadsides, rivers and bushland, enhance and preserve the local environment. Randwick City Council supports such events by advertising, providing equipment and collecting the rubbish. For more information on such days, visit the Useful Links.
Household hazardous waste
Hazardous materials found around the home cannot be placed in domestic, public place or commercial bins. This waste not only puts collection and landfill workers at risk, but can, on its own or through mixing with other chemicals, cause serious environmental problems through toxic leaching from landfill into adjacent soils and groundwater.
Hazardous household wastes include the following:
| Hazardous household wastes | ||
|---|---|---|
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Acids, alkalis and batteries |
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| Fire extinguishers and flares |
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| Gas bottles |
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| Motor oils and fuels, paint and paint-related products (thinners, strippers, varnish, etc.), pesticides and herbicides (fungicides, baits/poisons, wood preservatives), pool chemicals, solvents and household cleaners |
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Hazardous waste can be disposed of twice a year on Chemical CleanOut days organised by Randwick City Council in conjunction with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage. On these days, household hazardous waste can be dropped off both safely and legally.
Chemical CleanOut drop-off dates
The next Chemical CleanOut drop-off event will be held on:
Saturday 6 October 2012 from 9am to 3:30pm at Heffron Park car park, Fitzgerald Ave, Matraville.
For residents requiring information on hazardous waste and its disposal outside the scheduled days, phone the Department of Environment & Climate Change Environment Line on 131 555 or visit Household Chemical CleanOut .
Council's Recycling Centre also accepts batteries (car and household), motor oil, empty gas bottles and fire extinguishers during its regular opening hours.
Building and renovation waste
For Occupational Health and Safety reasons, it is simply not acceptable to place building waste in residential bins. Similarly, such material is not collected in either scheduled or on-call clean-up services. Great care is required in the handling and transportation of building waste.
All Development Applications include a Waste Management Plan. It is estimated that building waste, including disposable materials, resulting from demolition, excavation, construction and renovation, accounts for almost 70 per cent of landfill. Such waste is also a problem in the generation of dust and the pollution of stormwater.
A high percentage of building waste (eg wood, rubble, roofing, plastic and glass) is recyclable and good waste planning can significantly reduce disposal costs. You can ask suppliers to retain packaging and require sub-contractors to remove their waste. Randwick City Council supports the principles of sustainable housing, and strongly encourages the use of long-lasting building materials.
Many private contractors specialise in the storage, removal and recycling of building waste. Some companies operate recycling facilities/sites.
Household medical waste
'Medical sharps' (the needles, syringes, pipettes and lancets used in medical treatment) must NOT be placed in domestic garbage or recycling bins, where collection and landfill workers risk puncture injury and infection.
It is estimated that more than 2,600 Randwick residents are managing diabetes through home injections. Home injecting patients should purchase a proper, puncture resistant 'sharps' container. Such containers may be purchased from Diabetes NSW directly or through a local pharmacy.
Randwick City Council runs a community sharps disposal program in conjunction with local pharmacies to provide residents with a safe disposal service. Free community sharps disposal facilities are available at the following participating pharmacies:
Blooms The Chemist - Kingsford
512-514 Anzac Pde, Kingsford NSW 2032
Ph: 02 9663 3900
Maroubra Pharmacy
203 Maroubra Rd, Maroubra Junction NSW 2035
Ph: 02 9349 3344
Priceline Pharmacy Maroubra
Shop 14, 737 Anzac Pde, Pacific Square Shopping Centre
Maroubra Junction NSW 2035
Ph: 02 9349 4168
Walsh's Village Pharmacy
Shop 3/5-6 Meagher Ave, Maroubra NSW 2035
Ph: 02 9311 0088
Bloom's Chemist Coogee
202 Coogee Bay Rd, Coogee NSW 2034
Ph: 02 9665 5158
Return Unwanted Medicines (RUM) program
The RUM program is an Australian not-for-profit company that has established a free service to collect unwanted or out-of-date medicines. Simply take your medicines to any local pharmacy and the RUM program will dispose of them. No medicines are reused or recycled.
Fifty children are admitted to hospital every week as a result of poisoning, often after taking medicines that were left lying around.
Randwick Council encourages you to regularly clean out your medicine cabinets and return any unwanted or out of date medicines to your nearest pharmacy.
This will not only protect your family but also reduce the effect these medicines would have on the environment if they were placed into the domestic waste stream.
E-waste
Electronic waste includes a wide range of electronic equipment including computers, mobile phones, printers, televisions, video recorders, DVD players and stereos. Electronic waste, referred to as e-waste, contains hazardous substances that can cause harm to the environment while also contributing to the amount of waste we send to landfill.
E-waste drop-off event
Randwick City Council will be holding a free e-waste drop off event for local residents. You can drop off most types of household electronic waste at Council's Recycling Centre, 72 Perry St Matraville on the following dates:
| Date | Time |
|---|---|
| Saturday 19 May | 11am to 4pm |
| Monday 21 May to Friday 25 May | 6am to 3pm |
| Saturday 26 May |
11am to 4pm |
| Monday 28 May to Friday 1 June |
6am to 3pm |
Randwick City Council also provides ongoing drop-off facilities for the recycling of the items below:
| Item | Drop-off Location |
|---|---|
| Batteries - car | Recycling Centre |
| Batteries - household single use and rechargeable | |
| Mobile phones and accessories | |
| Used ink cartridges | |
| Whitegoods | Recycling Centre |
There are a number of other organisations that provide recycling solutions for all types of e-waste. Visit the Planet Ark "Recycling Near You" website for more details about these groups.
Useful links
National, State and Local Governments
NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change
Department of Environment and Climate Change - waste management
WRAPP (Waste Reduction and Purchasing Policy)
Not-For-Profit Organisations
Australian Recycled Cartonboard
Nature Conservation Council of NSW
SCRAP (School Communities Recycling All Paper)
Private Companies and Corporations
Veolia Environmental Services - Waste Management & Industrial Services
Associations
Cansmart - steel can recycling campaign
Local Goverment Association of NSW and the Shires Association of NSW
PNEB - Publishers National Environment Bureau
The Waste Management Association of Australia
The Beverage Industry Environment Council
Research Centres
The Centre for Organic Waste Management
The Co-operative Research Centre for Pollution and Waste Management Ltd
Environmental Action Groups