E-waste & chemicals

We offer services for safe disposal of all kinds of hazardous wastes as outlined below. Otherwise please refer to our online A-Z of waste and recycling, your Resource Recovery Guide or the Resource Recovery & Waste Management Facilities Fees and Charges (in the Forms and Resources section below) for further information on items that can be dropped off at your local Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility.
 

Electronic waste (E-waste) recycling

Australians generate more than 140,000 tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) each year and much of it ends up in landfill. Some e-waste contains toxic chemicals such as lead, mercury and arsenic. This is why it’s so important to dispose of electronic items correctly. E-waste can also contain precious metals that can be recycled.

Help keep e-waste out of landfill by taking advantage of our free e-waste drop off service.

Residents and small businesses can drop off e-waste to:

• Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility, Woodlands Road, Katoomba
• Blaxland Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility, Attunga Road, Blaxland

We accept:

• Televisions
• Desktop computers
• Laptops and notebook computers
• Palmtops and tablets 
• Computer monitors 
• Printers and scanners 
• Computer parts including internal hard drives, cards, CPUs, DVD and CD drives
• Computer mice, cables, keyboards and web cameras
• Modems & mobile wireless internet devices (these items can also be dropped off at our Springwood and Katoomba Council offices)
• TV Streaming Devices (these items can also be dropped off at our Springwood and Katoomba Council offices)
• Landline Phones – your home landline phone (these items can also be dropped off at our Springwood and Katoomba Council offices)
• Smart Products –mobile phones and accessories, smart watches, smart pens, tracking tags, VR headsets, smart speakers (Apple, Amazon & Google) and smart digital hubs (these items can also be dropped off at our Springwood and Katoomba Council offices)

We do not accept:

• Set top boxes
• DVD and video players 
• Any other household appliance not listed above
• Equipment that is extremely damaged or dismantled

Check our A-Z of Waste and Recycling for information on more items.

Chemical waste

Incorrect disposal of household chemicals can cause a real problem to our health and the environment. Hazardous waste should never be disposed of in your red garbage bin, down the drain or into the soil.

Residents can take the following items to Blaxland and Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facilities throughout the year for free:

• car batteries
• gas bottles
• fire extinguishers
• engine oil

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) also run Community Recycling Centres (CRC) at Blaxland and Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facilities, where you can take the following items:

• paint and paint tins
• smoke detectors
• fluro globes and tubes
• other oils
• household batteries

Please don't take any of the following materials to Blaxland or Katoomba, hold onto these items and dispose of them at the next free Chemical Cleanout event:

• Acids and alkalis
• Paint related products (turpentine, paint thinners and strippers etc.)
• Poisons
• Motor fuels and fluids
• Pool chemicals
• Hobby chemicals
• Household cleaners and Solvents
• Pesticides & herbicides
• Cleaning products
• Oil filled column/fin heaters 

Electronic waste, mobile phones, batteries and compact fluoro light bulbs and tubes should not be thrown in any bin, and chemicals should never be disposed of down the drain or into the soil.

Chemical CleanOut

In addition to the daily chemical waste services listed above, we run a Household Chemical CleanOut event four times a year at the Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facilities in Blaxland and Katoomba.

FREE Household Chemical CleanOut Events

Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility, Woodlands Road, Katoomba 

Saturday, 3 June 2023 10am to 3.30pm

 

In addition to our Household Chemical CleanOut events our neighbouring councils also hold EPA funded events that are open to all NSW residents to drop off Hazardous chemicals. For dates and location: https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/your-environment/recycling-and-reuse/household-recycling-overview/find-crcs-or-hcco 

Incorrect disposal of household chemicals can cause a real problem to our health and the environment. Hazardous waste should never be disposed of in your red garbage bin, down the drain or into the soil.

Did you know? 83% of items taken to a Chemical CleanOut event can be dropped off at Katoomba or Blaxland RRWMF for FREE all year round.

If you have other household chemicals not listed above, these can be disposed of for free during a CleanOut event. Harsher chemicals require disposal under the supervision of an Industrial Chemist, which is why we can’t accept them all year round.

Items accepted at a CleanOut event only:

• Acids and alkalis
• Paint related products (turpentine, paint thinners and strippers etc.)
• Poisons
• Motor fuels and fluids
• Pool chemicals
• Hobby chemicals
• Household cleaners and solvents
• Pesticides & herbicides
• Cleaning products 
• Oil filled column/fin heaters

Please remember to take note of the following details for the event:

• Wear gloves when handling chemicals and separate each item and label any unknown chemicals ‘unknown’.
• Wrap containers in newspaper, place them in a plastic bag and keep items stable and upright in your car (for example in a bucket) as you are responsible for any spills in your vehicle.
• This is a household collection so chemicals from commercial or industrial premises will not be accepted. There is a 20kg or 20L maximum container size limit. 
• For all Chemical CleanOut events (except the one day event run by the EPA) please bring proof that you are a Blue Mountains resident, such as your driver's licence or rates notice.

Batteries, mobiles and light bulbs

In our most recent waste audit from 2016 it’s apparent that households are still throwing hazardous materials into the red garbage bin. The most common hazardous item found in the red bin was batteries, followed by electrical items, clinical waste, chemicals, paint, fluorescent tubes, mobile phones and toner cartridges. These items require extra treatment and expense to protect the local environment.

We provide services for correct disposal of all types of hazardous wastes. Refer to the our A-Z of waste and recycling for more information on specific items.