Recycling

Paper and cardboard

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Egg cartons
• Cardboard boxes
• Envelopes
• Milk and juice cartons

Metals

• Tin, aluminium and steel cans
• Aerosol cans (empty)
• Metal lids
• Aluminium foil tray and foil wrappers

Rigid plastic

• Drink bottles
• Ice cream and yoghurt containers
• Margarine containers
• Milk and juice bottles
• Takeaway food containers
• Laundry and bathroom containers

Glass

• Bottles and jars

Green Industries SA offer a handy 'which bin?' search engine. Visit the Which Bin website.

• Plastic bags and other soft plastics. Try to avoid or reuse them. If they are not reusable, place these in your general waste bin.
  
• Food scraps – compost through your compost bin or FOGO bin.
  
• Packaging contaminated with food. Clean and/or rinse it out first.
• Tissues and paper towel – place in your FOGO bin.
• Clothing and fabrics – Recycle through options listed here.
• Polystyrene foam packaging, trays and cups – place in the general waste bin. Note: to prevent bulky pieces of polystyrene packaging from becoming lodged and stuck inside the general waste/waste to landfill bin, blocking materials from being emptied, please ensure that the polystyrene is placed inside of a plastic bag and broken up into small pieces. Make sure the bag is tied at the top to prevent pieces from falling out and expel any air inside of the bag before sealing it.
• Crockery, Pyrex or drinking glasses – place in the general waste bin.
• Mirrors, oven-proof or window glass – place (wrapped and bagged) in the general waste bin.
• Nappies – place in the general waste bin.
• Light globes – Click here for Recycling options.
• Car parts – Recycle through a car dismantler or scrap metal business.
• Plush/Soft Toys – donate them to a charity store.
• Untreated Wood, Garden waste or organic material – place in the FOGO bin.
• CDs, DVDs, video or audio tapes – Recycle them through Unplug ‘N’ Drop collection points.
• Chain, Rope, String or Fishing Line – place in the general waste bin.
• Asbestos – is a hazardous waste.

This A–Z list is your detailed guide for reuse, recycling, and safe disposal options for a wide variety of everyday products and household items.

Green Industries SA also offer handy and simple tips to help you get the most out of your recycling efforts, including a 'which bin?' search engine. Visit the Which Bin website.

• Make sure recycling items are clean and free of food waste, give them a quick rinse with your dish water.
• Take the lids off bottles and jars and put the lids in the rubbish (landfill) bin – lids are generally too small to be picked up by the sorting machines at the local recycling sorting facility. Some lids can be recycled via dedicated collection points. See list below.
• Crush recycling items so they take up less space in your recycling bin.
• Do not wrap recyclables in plastic bags before placing them in the recycling bin.
• Plastics 1-5 can be recycled in Mount Gambier. Plastics 6 and 7 cannot be recycled in Mount Gambier.

All of Mount Gambier’s kerbside recycling goes to the Green Triangle Recyclers facility in Mount Gambier where it is sorted into different categories – paper, cardboard, metal, glass, PET plastic (#1), HDPE plastic (#2) etc. The materials are baled and then sent to other facilities to be turned into new products. The recycling industry is an open market, where recycling processors sell their material where they can get the highest price. Here are some examples of what happens to Mount Gambier’s recycling:

• Cardboard and mixed paper are sent to facilities in Victoria and New South Wales where they are turned into new recycled paper products.

• Newspaper is sent to Adelaide where it’s turned into kitty litter.

• PET plastic (#1) is sent to Sydney where it’s turned into plastic bottles.

• HDPE plastic (#2) is sent to Moama NSW where it’s turned into drainage pipes.

Only contamination from recycling bins is sent to landfill. This highlights the importance of making sure you don’t contaminate your recycling bin. For further information view these videos.