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Household quantities - kerbside recycling

All household and office paper and cardboard can be placed in your yellow lid recycling bin.

Pizza boxes can be placed in your yellow lid recycling bin providing all food has been removed. It is okay if oil has stained the cardboard. Most pizza boxes now come with a perforation allowing clean lids to be separated from dirty bases.

Phone books can be recycled in your yellow lid recycling bin. You can cancel phone book deliveries at Directory Select.

Household quantities - recycling beyond the kerb

Paper and cardboard can be dropped off at Summerhill Waste Management Centre (fees and minimum charges apply).

Please visit Recycling Near You for other drop-off locations across Newcastle and surrounding areas.

Commercial quantities

If your workplace or business has large quantities of paper and cardboard to recycle, visit BusinessRecycling.com.au to find suitable collection or pick up service options.

Paper and cardboard can be dropped off at Summerhill Waste Management Centre (fees and minimum charges apply).

Reduce and recycling tips

When shopping, try to avoid products with unnecessary packaging or consider buying in bulk to reduce packaging waste.

Consider buying office paper, paper towel and toilet paper that are made with recycled content. These items are often made from recycled clean office paper and are safe and environmentally friendly.

To safely dispose of car bodies and car parts, search under Auto Wreckers and Recyclers in the Yellow Pages. You could also contacting a local scrap metal merchant or second hand dealer to ask if they are interested in salvaging metal and spare parts.

For the safe disposal of other car-related products, see:

• Batteries
• Summerhill Community Recycling Centre (for motor oil)
• See also Motor Oil within this A-Z guide for other motor oil disposal options
• Household Chemical CleanOut (for other motor fluids e.g. coolant)

CD, DVD and VHS players can be recycled through our free e-waste service at Summerhill Waste Management Centre. Conditions apply.

CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes can not be recycled and can be disposed in your red lid kerbside general waste bin or as a mixed general waste at Summerhill Waste Management Centre. Conditions apply.

Empty DVD, CD and VHS cases can be recycled in your yellow lid kerbside recycling bin. Please make sure that you have removed the discs/tapes first.

drumMUSTER is the national program for the collection and recycling of clean, empty metal and plastic containers used in the packaging of crop protection and animal health products.

Residual chemicals found in containers are often highly toxic and can still be potent well after the container is empty.

An annual drumMUSTER is held in Maitland. Regional collections are usually held in May. Bookings are essential, contact 4934 9700. For more information, visit drumMUSTER.

If you cannot take advantage of the drumMUSTER program, small containers can be triple rinsed (to remove any residual quantities of chemical left in the container), punctured and disposed of in your red lid general waste bin.

See Community Recycling Centres and Household Chemical CleanOut.

Clean uncontaminated soils (Virgin Excavated Natural Material - VENM) can be disposed of at Summerhill Waste Management Centre. Fees and charges apply.

Please note:
Residents who take fill onto their property either for free or for a payment, could be accepting contaminated material and are at risk of devaluing their property and damaging the environment. Contaminated fill has the potential to bring weeds and other pollutants on to your property.

Before importing any fill products, residents should contact City of Newcastle to find out if they need approval. If ourl officers find that fill has been imported illegally onto your property, they will take appropriate action. In some cases this may include orders to clean up the affected area, substantial fines or prosecution.

City of Newcastle can also provide information to residents on ways to avoid receiving contaminated fill and protect their property during earthworks. Please see Contaminated Land for more information.

Unwearable clothing, textiles and rags can be placed in your red lid general waste bin.

Functional clothing can be donated to many local charities, benefiting those less well off. When donating, look for organisations who are a member of the National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO) NACRO, the peak body representing charitable recycling organisations throughout Australia.

Please note: Leaving bags outside storefronts and around clothing banks is considered as illegal dumping. Charities lose thousands of dollars each year from the forced disposal of clothing which is damaged by rain or that is not wearable (e.g. stained or torn clothing). Please help charities by using these services appropriately.

When light globes end up in landfill, they have the potential to leach mercury and other toxic elements such as fluorine, neon and lead into the environment.

You can drop off household quantities of small light globes (no tubes) in the Community Recycling Stations at selected Council facilities. Due to the fragile nature of the globes, please take care transporting them and placing them in the recycling station as broken or damaged globes will not be accepted.

Both light globes and tubes can be recycled at any Household Chemical CleanOut event and the Community Recycling Centre at Summerhill Waste Management Centre.

See E-Waste

Construction and demolition waste contributes to approximately one-third of the waste sent to NSW landfills.

A large proportion of this waste can be diverted for reuse and recycling, including bricks, concrete, clean wood and green waste. Summerhill Waste Management Centre offers a differential pricing structure, meaning that you can minimise your waste disposal costs by separating recyclable materials before you arrive.

Reusing or reprocessing materials on-site can also reduce your transport costs and waste disposal fees. Information about house deconstruction is available on the NSW EPA website.

Used cooking oil can be dropped off for recycling at any free Chemical CleanOut event and the Community Recycling Centre at Summerhill Waste Management Centre.

Small amounts of kitchen fats and oils can be poured into a container; sealed and placed in your red lid  general waste bin.

Households fats and oils should never be poured down the kitchen sink, or into any sewer or stormwater drain. The fats and oils don't break down and can block sewer pipes and clog up the sewerage system. If they enter our environment they can also cover our waterways in a scum which limits the amount of oxygen in the water, putting aquatic animals at risk. View Hunter Water Think Before You Flush webpage for more information.

Unwanted crockery may be disposed of in your red lid general waste bin.

Before throwing away crockery, consider donating usable pieces to charities, or secondhand shops. Crockery is often collectible and even odd pieces may be valuable to a collector. Broken crockery can be used in mosaics, so consider contacting a local craft group.

Please do not place crockery in your kerbside recycling bin. It has the potential to contaminate the recycling stream and ruin the overall quality of materials collected.

See Animal Droppings.

Please see CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes.

There are a number of drop off options in newcastle for recycling electronic waste, such as computers, monitors, phones, TVs, stereos, DVDs, CD and VCR players. Find out more about E-Waste in Newcastle.