Since August 2022, Lane Cove Council residents have been able to conveniently recycle more household items without leaving home. In partnership with RecycleSmart, Lane Cove Council residents can now have items such as textiles, batteries, and e-waste collected directly from their front door and recycled locally for free.
If you live in the Lane Cove North area, located in the Willoughby City Council LGA, you can also use RecycleSmart. Willoughby City Council is not accepting soft plastics at this stage via recycelsmart.
Powered by a user-friendly smartphone app, RecycleSmart is a convenient solution to a challenging issue. Until now, many household items could not be recycled in the yellow bins for kerbside collection.
The RecycleSmart program complements the existing kerbside collection in Lane Cove by managing four major categories of household waste:
- Soft Plastics
- E-waste (electronics, mobile devices)
- Textiles (clothing, fabrics)
- Small household items (batteries, light globes, coffee pods and many more)
Soft Plastics
RecycleSmart will collect it from your doorstep and transport it to the APR Plastics facility in Victoria. The plastics will be shredded, turned into oil and then refined into resin to be used as flexible plastic again. To find out more about this process, visit RecycleSmart’s website or download the FAQ information.
Shoes
RecycleSmart has partnered with Upcycle 4 Better, an international textile end-of-use organisation, to collect ALL kinds of shoes to be re-worn, recycled, repaired or reprocessed.
This means in your next Power Pickup you can put all kinds of shoes in your bags!
- Sneakers that can’t go the extra mile
- Leather boots that can’t be shined
- High heels that are too tight
- Sandals that you realise now aren’t very fashionable…
RecycleSmart are still collecting shoes that are in sellable condition to be donated to local Op Shops.
Backpacks
RecycleSmart has partnered with Upcycle 4 Better, to collect backpacks.
Yes, this includes school backpacks!
They can be made of any type of material. 1 backpack counts as 1 x bag for your Power Pickup, except if it is small enough to fit in your usual bag together with other items.
Soft Toys
RecycleSmart is now taking soft toys to recycle them. It’s one of the most complex items to recycle!!
They will be delivered to their textile recovery partners, Upcycle4Better, who will clean and repair them to support 1-World Charity Shops and partner retailers, or if they cannot extend their lives as soft toys, the material will be recycled.
They are collecting soft toys of all shapes and levels of fluffiness; they just have to fit inside your usual 40x40x20cm grocery bags.
Find out more about Recyclesmart here.
RecycleSmart Now Accepting Bread Tags
Blister Pack Recycling
Did you watch the latest season of The War on Waste ? There was a segment on blister packs used by pharmaceutical companies (for example, the packaging used for Panadol, Nurofen, Telfast etc). It was noted that blister packs could be recycled. RecycleSmart picks up blister packs for recycling.
Kitchen Items
RecycleSmart is now taking collecting utensils. They have partnered with two Sydney-based recyclers to help you declutter your kitchen.
According to RecycleSmart:
“Recycling old pots and pans can help reduce waste in more ways than you might think. Not only does it reduce the amount of raw materials like iron and copper being stripped from the natural environment, but it also helps conserve the energy and water that goes into processing those materials.
Not only that, but recycling aluminium saves up to *95% of the energy required to produce primary aluminium and reduces the greenhouse gas emissions produced by this process by up to 95%.”
Cookware will they take:
- Aluminium
- Stainless steel
- Cast iron
- Copper
- Carbon Steel
Cookware they cannot recycle:
- Porcelain
- Glass
- Utensils
- Knives
Polystyrene
You can Now Recycle Polystyrene from Home with RecycleSmart
ITC gets asked all the time about where you can recycle polystyrene and now recyclesmart is offering that option.
Did you know that polystyrene doesn’t go in your recycling bin? Expanded polystyrene is 100% recyclable. However, it needs to be put through a specific recycling process.
Recyclesmart has partnered with Australia’s leading manufacturer of alternate building and insulation products. This means the polystyrene that you’re stuck with after buying a new TV can be recycled into useful building materials.
Please note that they do not collect food grade polystyrene as the material needs to be super clean.
Accepted Waste
- E-waste: Small electronics, appliances, batteries and mobile phones
- Textiles in good condition including clothing, shoes, bags, towels, bed linen
- Textiles in non-reusable condition: clothes and bed linen that cannot be reused (separate and clearly label your wearable and non-wearable textiles)
- Sneakers and other sports shoes (separate and clearly label your wearable and non-wearable shoes)
- Shoes
- Takeaway coffee cups and lids emptied, rinsed and separated
- Books, toys and CDs/DVDs in good condition
- Aluminium coffee pods in a sealed plastic bag
- Empty cosmetics and skincare or haircare packaging
- Lightbulbs, paint (sealed), gas bottles, fire extinguishers, x-ray films, printer cartridges and all other items usually accepted by our Community Recycling Centre.
- And more, find the full list on the Recycle Smart website here.
Previously, to properly recycle these items, residents were required to take separate recyclables to various locations, including retail stores or recycling centres. Without a home collection service, many of these recyclable items ended up in the red general rubbish bin for kerbside collection, destined for landfill. Up to 20 per cent of the average red bin contains items that could be recycled.
ITC is so pleased to see RecycleSmart in the Lane Cove Area. We first approached RecycleSmart in 2013 and asked them to approach the Lane Cove Council. Since that time we have asked several different councillors to put RecycleSmart on the Sustainability Committee agenda. ITC has been using the service every month since it began. The service is free but last month we paid $15.00 for another three bags packed full of sheets and doona covers (many of them single bed that we have not used for years).
How Does It Work?
Residents can book their Power Pickup in three steps.
- Download the RecycleSmart app (or visit the website)
- Gather the recyclable items and leave up to two bags of recyclables at their door
- Book their collection with three quick clicks on the app (or website).
A local, friendly driver will come and collect them, ensuring every item is properly recycled.
RecycleSmart has diverted in the last 3 years over 278,300 kilos of recyclable materials from landfill, collecting over 153,000 bags.
“We are here to change the way people feel about recycling, so they recycle more things, more often. We achieve that by making recycling digital, fun and easy. We believe recycling should be something you look forward to doing.” says Giorgio Baracchi, CEO and co-founder of RecycleSmart.
One-Off Power Pick Up When You Have Done a Big Clean Out
Lane Cove Residents in Lane Cove LGA
Lane Cove Council Residents can book an on-demand pickup for $5 per bag.
Lane Cove North and Willoughby City Council residents can book an on-demand pickup for $5 a bag.
Download the RecycleSmart app wherever you get your apps or visit: https://www.recyclesmart.com/
Get your Bottles and Can (and a refund) Without Leaving Home with Lane Cove Earn and Return
You can also recycle bottles and cans and get a refund without leaving home – Lane Cove Return and Earn has an easy to use system that means you don’t have to feed a machine. More Details here.
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