Household hazardous waste

The following items can be placed in your household general waste bin (red lid).

Bathroom

• Cotton buds
• Hair care products¹
• Medicines²
• Wet wipes

Kitchen

• Cooking oil
• Floor care products
• Metal polish with solvent

Other

• Compact fluorescent light bulbs or fluorescent tube (must be wrapped tightly in newspaper or put in the original box) 
• Fibreglass resins
• Ink cartridges (only if empty)³
• Paints and mediums (but only small, dried quantities)¹.

¹ Hair care products and paints/mediums - Dry and solidify liquids before placing into your household general waste bin (red lid) by mixing with an absorbent material such as kitty litter, soil or grass clippings. Alternatively, pour liquids onto newspaper and cover with absorbent material. You can place empty hair product containers and paint tins with minimal paint residue into your recycling bin (yellow lid).

² Medicines - Take unwanted or expired medicines to participating pharmacies for safe disposal.

³ Ink cartridges - Where possible recycle ink cartridges via the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark recycling program. Cartridges are made up of different materials (including plastic, metal, foam, ink, toner) and using a collection location helps ensure recoverable materials are not sent to landfill. Find your nearest Cartridges 4 Planet Ark collection location/box.

The following items can be taken to Council's resource recovery centres outside of scheduled free drop-off days.

Garage

• Car batteries (lead acid type only)
• Motor, sump and gear oil

Other

• Batteries¹
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs
• Empty gas bottles (maximum of six bottles of up to nine kilograms)
• Paints and mediums (maximum of 20 litres per container and 100 litres per customer per visit)

¹ Batteries - Planet Ark also offers free battery recycling options.

The following materials can be disposed of via your household sewer (via toilet/s or sink/s).

Bathroom

Mix chemicals with water before placing in sewer. 

• Aftershaves, perfumes, other locations
• Bathroom cleaners and disinfectants
• Hair care products
• Medicines (small quantities only)¹

​​​​Kitchen

• Drain cleaner/disinfectant
• Window and ammonia-based cleaners

Garage

• Windshield washer solution

^1. Medicines - While it is acceptable to dispose of small quantities of medicines to the sewer, it's best to return them to your local pharmacy.

• All items for household hazardous waste disposal must remain in their original containers and not be mixed.
• A 20 litre limit per customer per visit applies for each chemical or product, except for paint and engine oil (hydrocarbon oil) where up to 100 litres per customer per visit is accepted. Due to workplace health and safety requirements, paint and oil containers must not exceed 20 litres per container.

The following items are accepted at these free drop-off days.

Kitchen

• Insect sprays
• Floor care products
• Metal polish with solvent

Garage

• Anitfreeze
• Car batteries
• Brake fluid
• Motor, sump and gear oil
• Petrol and marine fuel

Garden

• Fungicide/insecticide
• Herbicides and weed killers

Other

• Batteries (household and lead acid batteries)
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs
• Dry cleaning solvents
• Electronic waste
• Fibreglass resins
• Fire extinguishers
• Fluorescent light bulbs and tubes
• Gas bottles (must be empty, a maximum of six bottles of up to nine kilograms)
• Ink cartridges¹
• Paints and mediums (maximum of 20 litres per container and 100 litres per customer)
• Photographic chemicals
• Smoke detectors
• Swimming pool chemicals

¹ Ink cartridges - Where possible recycle ink cartridges via the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark recycling program. Cartridges are made up of different materials (including plastic, metal, foam, ink, toner) and using a collection location helps ensure recoverable materials are not sent to landfill. Find your nearest Cartridges 4 Planet Ark collection location/box.