Specialised recycling programs

Officeworks’  Bring it Back program keep products and materials in use for longer through repair, reuse, and recycling. One such program offered by Officeworks is audio & tech accessory recycling.

The following is accepted:

• All mobile phones (take to a team member)
• Cables & power supplies
• Chargers
• Computers and laptops (take to a team member)
• Headphones
• Mice & keyboards
• Mobile wireless internet devices
• Monitors
• Motherboards
• Printer circuit boards
• Printers & scanners
• Smart Home devices

Any items dropped off at the Bring it Back stations – including IT equipment, ink and toner cartridges, and stationery – may be reused or repurposed by charitable organisations where appropriate or recycled through certified recycling partners. Find your closest Officeworks location for drop off here.

Any type of battery (including lithium) cannot go into your household bins because they end up in landfill, can cause harmful fires and release toxic materials.

You can safely dispose of and recycle your batteries in 3 simple steps:

1. Tape the terminals of your batteries to prevent the risk of fire
2. Trap them in a glass jar & keep out of reach of children
3. Take them to your local B-cycle drop off point

95% of the materials in each battery are then recycled and turned into new products.

To find your local B-cycle drop off point, click here.

Mecca Wollongong are recycling empty beauty packaging! Any brand of cosmetic, hair care or skin care packaging such as:

• Shampoo bottles and caps
• Conditioner bottles and caps
• Hair gel tubes and caps
• Hair spray bottles and triggers
• Hair paste plastic jars and caps
• Lip balm tubes
• Face soap dispensers and tubes
• Lotion bottles, tubes, dispensers, and jars
• Shaving foam tubes (no cans)
• Lip gloss tubes
• Mascara tubes
• Eye liner pencils and cases
• Eye Shadow tubes
• Concealer tubes and sticks

Plastics are separated into different plastic categories, cleaned, melted down, and turned into pellets that can be moulded to produce new products. Metals are separated by type and melted for reuse. Glass is cleaned and sorted by colour for processing. It is then crushed and melted to be used in new glass products.

Disposable coffee cups can be taken to all 7-Eleven locations across Shellharbour to be recycled through their Cup Rescue program. So far, used cups have been turned into outdoor furniture, garden beds, reusable cups and most recently, a road!

You can read more about 7-Eleven’s Cup Rescue program here.

Give your preloved footwear a new life and take them to the Tread Lightly drop off points at Rebel Sport or Athlete’s Foot in Shellharbour.

The following is accepted:

• Athletic lifestyle shoes
• Any sports branded shoes
• Thongs and slides
• Football boots
• Leather sports shoes
• Hiking boots
• Sneakers
• Trainers
• Runners
• Golf shoes
• Gumboots

Reusable components are extracted from the footwear including rubber, leather and fibres at the recycling facility. These materials are then used to manufacture new products such as gym mats, floors and playgrounds.

The Tread Lightly program aims to recycle one million pairs of footwear over the next two years.

Officeworks’  Bring it Back program keep products and materials in use for longer through repair, reuse, and recycling. One such program offered by Officeworks is ink & toner cartridge recycling.

The following is accepted:

• Ink cartridges
• Laser toners
• Printers (take to counter)

Any items dropped off at the Bring it Back stations—including IT equipment, ink and toner cartridges, and stationery—may be reused or repurposed by charitable organisations where appropriate or recycled through certified recycling partners. Find your closest Officeworks location for drop off here.

Collect your empty makeup packaging and drop it off at Priceline Shellharbour to be recycled and given a second life! Makeup packaging can include:

• Empty glass and plastic bottles
• Pumps, caps, tubes and droppers
• Compacts and palettes
• Lipsticks and gloss
• Mascara and wands
• Eye and brow liners
• Soft and rigid makeup packaging including sheet mask & wipe packaging

The makeup packaging is then separated into different plastic categories, cleaned and then turned into plastic pellets to make new recycled products.

Clean and empty pet food packaging, dry food bags and wet food pouches can be recycled at Best Friends Shellharbour & Petstock Albion Park.

The collected waste is mechanically and/or manually separated into metals, fibres, and plastics. Metals are melted so they may be recycled. The fibres (such as paper or wood based products) are recycled or composted. The plastics are separated into different plastic categories, cleaned and then turned into plastic pellets to make new recycled products.

Officeworks’  Bring it Back program keep products and materials in use for longer through repair, reuse, and recycling. One such program offered by Officeworks is school stationery supplies recycling.

The following is accepted:

• Art Supplies
• Calculators
• Crayons & Oil Pastels
• Erasers, Liquid Paper & Correction Tape
• Exercise & Scrap Books
• Glue Sticks
• Maths Equipment
• Paint Brushes
• Paper Clips & Bulldog Clips
• Pencil Cases
• Pencils, Pens & Markers
• Rulers
• Sharpeners, Staplers & Hole Punches
• A4 & Mini Whiteboards

The writing instruments are cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.

Any items dropped off at the Bring it Back stations—including IT equipment, ink and toner cartridges, and stationery—may be reused or repurposed by charitable organisations where appropriate or recycled through certified recycling partners. Find your closest Officeworks location for drop off here.

Attention surfers and divers! Give your wetsuit a second life. Drop off for recycling at Rip Curl in North Wollongong and it will be turned into things such as soft fall matting for playgrounds.