E-waste & chemicals

What to do with hazardous chemicals

Blaxland does not accept most hazardous household chemicals. You can only take the following items to Blaxland:

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

Please don't take any of the following materials to Blaxland:

• Acids and alkalis
• Paints and paint related products (turpentine, paint thinners and strippers etc.)
• Poisons
• Motor fuels and fluids
• Pool chemicals
• Hobby chemicals
• Household cleaners and Solvents
• Fluorescent bulbs and tubes
• Pesticides & herbicides
• Cleaning products
• Smoke detectors
• Household batteries

Please hold onto these items and dispose of them at the next free chemical Cleanout event. Council will promote the next date and location as soon as possible.

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.

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:

• 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

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:

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

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) also runs a Community Recycling Centre (CRC) at Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility, where you can take the following items:

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

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.

The next CleanOut dates will be announced as soon as possible.

Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility
Woodlands Road, KATOOMBA

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 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
• Pesticides and herbicides
• Household cleaners and solvents
• Hobby chemicals

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 and a nominal 20L or 20kg limit applies.
• 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.