Where can I dispose of...

Overview

There are many items we use in our daily lives which cannot go in the kerbside rubbish collection.  However, there are other means of recycling these items. The list above can help you find out what you can recycle and where you can go to dispose of these items.  Click on an item for further information.

Asbestos

Every year in Australia, there are an estimated 4,000 deaths from asbestos-related diseases. This includes lung cancer and mesothelioma due to past exposure to asbestos. By preventing exposure to asbestos fibres, asbestos-related diseases can be eliminated.

There are a number of laws, compliance codes and guidance documents that can help you understand your obligations relating to asbestos.

Council recommends employing a qualified asbestos removalists for safe removal of any asbestos products in the home or work environment. If you are undertaking the work yourself follow the Work Safe guidelines, use appropriate protective equipment and dispose of the materials to a licenced facility.

Asbestos can be removed safely in small volumes by following work safe precautions including wearing PPE including P2 mask and disposable suit (asbestos removalists suits available at Bunnings). Wetting down the asbestos material, laying 2 layers of polythene plastic down in the area and double wrapping any asbestos for storage before disposing. 

The nearest licenced drop off facilities for domestic and commercial quantities of asbestos are listed.

SMYTHESDALE 3351

1380 Glenelg Highway
Ph: 5342 8540 or 5320 5500
Thu: 10 am – midday

FYANSFORD 3218

1–503 Hamilton Highway
Ph: 5224 2251
Mon–Sat: 8 am – 3 pm

Always call ahead before taking hazardous material and check that all requirements have been met.

For information on identifying and managing and disposing of asbestos in the home or workplace visit

www.asbestos.vic.gov.au

www.asbestossafety.gov.au

Agricultural Chemicals

ChemClear is a program set up to provide the safe collection and disposal of obsolete and unwanted agricultural chemicals. To dispose of unwanted chemicals, you can book a collection through the ChemClear hotline (1800 008 182) or on the website www.chemclear.com.au. While some chemicals are free to dispose of, there may be a fee for disposal depending on the chemical type and its expiry date. 

Agricultural Chemical Containers

drumMUSTER is the national program for the collection and recycling of agricultural chemical containers.

Through this program, chemical containers can be dropped off free of charge at the Corangamite Regional Landfill or at one of the participating transfer stations. Council can only accept containers that carry the drumMUSTER logo, are clean, dry and free of chemical residue (dirt, rust and dye stains are acceptable) and have the lids removed. Metal drums must be pierced from top to bottom for draining and airing.

drumMUSTER containers can be dropped off at Corangamite Regional Landfill and all transfer stations except Port Campbell. 

For more information about drumMUSTER visit www.drummuster.org.au

Broken Glass

Window glass that is unwanted or broken can be disposed of in general waste bins or skips. Care should be taken not to spread broken glass by wrapping with plastic or paper.

Aluminium frames windows can be disposed of in the scrap metal bin at Council Transfer Stations.

Household glass items like cups, glasses and vases are not recyclable and must go in the waste bin. Only glass jars and bottles are recyclable through kerbside recycling. 

Car Batteries

Car batteries and other lead-acid batteries are hazardous waste and should not be put into landfill. Car batteries can be recycled for free at the Corangamite Regional Landfill or at one of the Council's transfer stations.

Coffee Cups

Coffee cups, are they recyclable or not? Well unfortunately it’s not a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer at the moment. So why does the confusion exist and what is the best way to dispose of your disposable cups?

Whether coffee cups are recyclable or not is one of the most controversial questions in the recycling industry at the moment. The cups are made by covering cardboard with a thin layer of plastic to make it waterproof, in the recycling industry this is called a composite material. The cups are pretty much the same material as juice cartons which are being phased out of recycling collections everywhere. Other composite material items are waxed carboard and wrapping paper,  milk and juice cartons and tetrapaks.

How the cardboard and plastic behave in the recycling process – particularly during pulping - is the source of all the controversy. If the cardboard fibres remain attached to the plastic they can’t be turned back into paper products and therefore become a waste product.

So, What To Do?

• Ditch the disposable (and all this confusion) and switch to a reusable cup. A study in Canada found that, in terms of the energy used in manufacturing, re-usable cups break even with paper cups fairly quickly. It takes just 15 uses for a glass cup to break even, it’s 17 for a plastic re-usable and 39 for ceramic. So the more often you use your re-usable the lower the overall impact.

E-waste

While you can’t put your e-waste in your home rubbish or recycling bin, you can take it to one of many different locations around the area to recycle it.

In or near Corangamite Shire, the drop off points are:

Site	Address	Materials accepted
		TVs & computers	Other e-waste appliances	Whitegoods	Household batteries	Mobile phones	Light globes
Corangamite Regional  Landfill & Transfer Station	County Boundary Road West,   Naroghid
Derrinallum Transfer Station	Heards Rd, Derrinallum
Port Campbell Transfer   Station	McRae St, Port Campbell
Simpson Transfer Station	Princetown Rd, Simpson  (2 km south of Simpson)
Skipton Transfer Station	Beaufort Rd, Skipton  (2 km north of Skipton)
Timboon Transfer Station	Timboon-Curdies River Rd,  Timboon
Western District  Employment Access	11 Albert St, Warrnambool	*	*	*
Clean Away	355 Koroit St, Warrnambool	*	*	*
Warrnambool Transfer Station	20 Harrington Rd,  Warrnambool	*	*	*
WestVic Waste	3 Hammond Pl,  Warrnambool
Ballarat Transfer Station	119 Gillies Street South,  Alfredton			*

*Fees may apply

There are a number of other MobileMuster sites that collect mobile phones. Click here to find your nearest site.  

Food Scraps

Food scraps can be included in your green organics bin or compost bin. All food scraps are accepted in the green organics bin including meat, dairy, citrus and cooked foods.  All food waste is composted at the landfill.

If you use a home kitchen caddy, biodegradable (compostable) bags can be used to line the container. These bags are available for purchase from the Council Offices at $6.85 per roll.

Household Batteries

Batteries contain plastics, metals and toxic metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury. As batteries are hazardous, they should not be disposed of in the red kerbside bin or into landfill.

You can drop off used batteries free of charge at the Corangamite Regional Landfill and Corangamite Transfer Stations for recycling. Leaky batteries cannot be accepted. Batteries are also accepted at Cleanaway in Warrnambool, Western Waste Transfer Station in Colac and the Ballarat Transfer Station.

To reduce battery waste, connect appliances to the mains power where possible and use rechargeable batteries.

Household Chemicals

Household chemicals are collected annually for free through the Sustainability Victoria Detox Your Home program. Detox your Home is a safe, free and easy-to-use service to dispose of unwanted, highly toxic household chemicals without harming your health or the environment.

The collected items are recycled for recovery and diverted from landfill.

There are up to 31 Detox your Home mobile collections held across Victoria each year to ensure reasonable access for all Victorian householders. The program is administered by Sustainability Victoria in partnership with local councils and is funded by the Victorian landfill levy.

Visit the Detox your Home website for a complete list of upcoming mobile collections and accepted products.

Paint, household batteries, and compact fluorescent lamps and tubes – which are less toxic than household chemicals (but also a more common waste item) can be disposed of throughout the year at a permanent drop-off site.

Permanent drop-off sites are located at:

Ballarat Transfer Station
Gillies Street South, Ballarat (VicRoads 565 Q9)
(03) 5334 2621

Warrnambool
Cleanaway
355 Koroit Street, Warrnambool 3280
(03) 5561 1195

Light Globes

Incandescent globes should be wrapped in newspaper and put in the red kerbside bin or taken to landfill. Fluorescent and compact fluorescent globes contain mercury so should be recycled rather than put into landfill, we do not accept these as e-waste. You can drop light globes off for recycling at Cleanaway in Warrnambool, Ballarat Transfer Station or Western Waste Transfer Station in Colac.

Medicines

Unwanted or expired medicines can be dropped off at most pharmacies for safe disposal.

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones and mobile phone batteries cannot be recycled in the yellow kerbside bins. MobileMuster has a free collection and recycling service for old mobile phones. There are MobileMuster collection points at the following locations:

• Post Offices at Camperdown, Cobden, Derrinallum, Lismore, Noorat, Peterborough, Port Campbell, Princetown, Simpson, Terang and Timboon.

Paint Tins

Nearly empty paint tins, if dried out, can go into the steel bin at any of the Corangamite Transfer Stations. Wet paint is not accepted at the Corangamite Transfer Stations, however permanent drop off sites are located at selected transfer stations across the state:

Warrnambool: Cleanaway (permanent detox your home service)
355 Koroit Street, Warrnambool
Ph: (03) 5561 1195

Western Waste Transfer Station
11-27 Marriner Street, Colac 3250 (VicRoads 520 K 2)
Ph: (03) 5231 3076

Ballarat Transfer Station
Gillies Street South, Ballarat (VicRoads 565 Q9)
Ph: (03) 5334 2621

Geelong Resource Recovery Centre
100 Douro Street, North Geelong (Melway Ref 441 K7)
Ph: (03) 5227 0270 

Plastic Bags

Plastic bags should not be put into the recycling. Plastic bags can be disposed of in landfill or in the red kerbside rubbish bins, although it is preferable that you recycle them. Check if your local supermarket accepts plastic bags for recycling.

Reusable bags are a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic shopping bags. Remember to take your reusable bags when you go shopping to reduce plastic bag waste.

Other soft plastics can be disposed of in landfill or in the red kerbside rubbish bins.

Sharps & Needles

Syringe disposal containers

Council has syringe disposal containers available to any person who needs them. Syringe disposal containers are free  of charge. Containers are available from the Civic Centre in Camperdown. Once a container is full, it can be returned to Council for disposal and replacement.

Council also has free needle and syringe disposal kits for community groups, sports clubs and schools.

Syringe disposal units in public places

Unsafe disposal of used syringes in public places can cause injury. Please use a syringe disposal bin . Council’s public toilets all have a syringe disposal bin.

If you see a discarded syringe or needle in a public area you can contact council on 03 5593 7100 to report and organise rapid retrieval.

Victorian Needle and Syringe Program - NSP

The following agencies operate needle and syringe programs (NSP) for the general public. Sharps containers and sterile injecting equipment are provided free of charge by all services. Please be advised that services will only accept used equipment in approved safe disposal containers. NSP services are confidential and anonymous.

Used Cooking Oil

If solidified, oil can be wrapped in paper (not plastic) and put into your green organics bin or compost bin. For liquid oil, it is best to allow it to soak into another compostable item, such as old bread, before adding to the green organics bin or compost bin.

Used Motor Oil

Non-commercial quantities of used motor oil are accepted free of charge at all Corangamite waste facilities except the Skipton Transfer Station.

Used Tyres

Used tyres can be disposed of for recycling at the Corangamite Regional Landfill for a fee. Domestic disposal only.

For those needing to dispose of commercial volumes of tyres (4 or more) please contact a tyre recycling facility.