The Lane Cove Sustainability Action Group (LCSAG) are a committed group of volunteers who have been at the forefront of sustainability for years.
One of the programmes that LCSAG supports is the REDcycle soft plastic recycling programme. LCSAG would love you to buy plastic wrap free products, but they recognise that this is not always an option. So they work hard to promote soft plastic recycling in Lane Cove.
Another one of their programmes is encouraging people to recycle items rather than putting them in the household cleanup. Items collected by Lane Cove Council during a household cleanup go straight to landfill.
For years the LCSAG has been promoting E-Waste collections. You may recall that the council held E-Waste collection days twice a year. If you could not take your E-Waste to the collection point on a collection day, committed members of LCSAG would pick it up for you. Times have changed, and now you can take E-Waste to the Community Recycling Centre (CRC) in Artarmon, and it’s super easy and quick.
However, the Community Recycling Centre does not take white goods and will only take some items, like microwaves, if they have space when you drop them off.
The Lane Cove Sustainability Action Group is now working with Lisa and Adrian Saunders from Arnies Recon.
The Saunders founded Arnie’s Recon in 2019 to make it easier for people to recycle their electronics and appliances. Arnie’s Recon collects nearly everything with a cord. Their service is free to make it easy for people to recycle. It is a business with a social ethos.
LCSAG and Arnie’s Recon have placed a recycling bin at Woolworths for small electrical items with a cord (toasters, jugs, coffee machines and other small appliances listed below). The bin is located near the escalators servicing the car parking levels. If you have larger items, you can book a pickup.
What Does Arnie’s Recon Collect?
Computers, laptops, mobile phones, computer games and consoles, iPads, tablets, servers and server racks, stereos, speakers, DVD players, iPods, cameras, Foxtel boxes, phones, heaters, fans, amplifiers, monitors, televisions, calculators, transistor and clock radios, printers medical equipment, tools washers, dryers, air conditioners, microwaves, drones, dishwashers, cables, remotes, chargers, old or vintage collectables, batteries, plugs, solar panels, sewing machines, overlockers, steam mops, dehumidifiers.
Feel free to contact them if you have an item, not on the list. ITC contacted them when a local asked if they take coffee machines (they do).
What Does Arnie’s Recon Not Collect?
They DO NOT take rear-projection TVs, fridges, freezers, stoves, ovens, range hoods, barbecues and office photocopiers at this time. Stoves, ovens, and range hoods often have residual food and/or grease and are bio-hazard.
They DO NOT pick up beds, mattresses, furniture, building materials or anything hazardous.
To legally recycle fridges, they need first to be degassed. It costs approximately $120 per standard size fridge to do so. If you are willing to pay for this process and provide a receipt showing them it has been done, they can recycle the fridge.
Large office photocopiers and rear projection TVs are too heavy for their drivers, and they don’t have the equipment to move them safely. You are welcome to drop them off at their warehouse. They can take desktop printers, but they need to be small enough for one person to lift them safely.
LCSAG’s Visit to Arnies Recon
Members of the LCSAG recently visited Arnie’s Recon. The business started two years ago in a storage unit. They are now located in a large warehouse in Marrickville. LCSAG were impressed with the warehouse and how organised the warehouse was with different zones for items.
They were told Arnie’s Recon had 12 staff members and were looking to hire more (especially drivers). They have two vans for collections. They also accept items that are dropped off.
Items In Good Condition But No Longer Needed
The Sydney Library of Things is just like a library, but instead of books, you borrow things. These “things” are everyday household items or objects. It’s a collection of extremely useful but only occasionally used items which are loaned out for a period. It’s about helping to reduce landfill by giving items a new home where they can be borrowed many times.
You can borrow a drill or a disco ball, an air mattress or an air compressor, a metal detector, a high-pressure water cleaner and more.
Are you one of those people who like to try before you buy? If you are, then The Sydney Library of Things is a must!! Don’t go out and buy all that camping gear, only to find you don’t like camping or will only ever be able to fit in one trip a year.
If you like to entertain and need a few extra household items such as a rice cooker, an ice cream machine or extra glasses or a gazebo for outdoor entertaining, you will find them in the library’s catalogue.
There are also moving boxes (the number one requested on any community Facebook page).
The most popular items borrowed so far have been the food dehydrator, paper shredder, camping gear and of course, an old favourite, the water pressure cleaner.
But wait, there’s more… you pay one low monthly, quarterly, or yearly membership fee and borrow items without paying an extra borrowing fee. Read more here.
What Do You Do with Items Not Mentioned Above?
In The Cove has put together a guide on where to recycle, donate, sell or dispose of household items correctly – read the guide here.
