What happens to recycled items

Nearly 880 residents attended Recycle It Saturday in February 2024 and diverted 20.2 tonnes from landfill. That's about 23kg per person.

The next Recycle It Saturday is on Saturday 18 May from 9am to 3pm at Alexandra Canal Depot and is open to City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra council residents only.

Find out what you can drop off and remember to group items into different boxes or bags beforehand, so they’re easy for us to sort on the day. We recommend old cardboard boxes, which you can leave with us for recycling.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the items you drop off at the event? We look at 6 items and share their journey once you’ve said goodbye.

Clothes in great condition

When you drop off clothes at Recycle It Saturday, they get donated to charity or reused in communities around the world that need them most.

Clothes are taken to SCRgroup’s warehouse in Sydney. They are then baled and shipped to overseas partners for sorting. Once sorted, clothes are distributed to second-hand markets and charities around the world, including Australia.

That’s why it’s important to only drop off clothing, sheets, towels and toys in great condition that can be resold. Don’t bring anything you wouldn’t give to a friend.

Polystyrene

Here's what happens to polystyrene once you drop it off at Recycle It Saturday

If you’ve ever received a home delivery or bought a new appliance, you’ll have dealt with polystyrene.

This lightweight plastic is a nightmare for the planet. It can’t be recycled in our kerbside recycling bins, so this resource is often lost to landfill. But it could be so much more.

When you drop off your clean, rigid polystyrene at Recycle It Saturday, we compress it in our machine which reduces its size by about 90%.

This polystyrene, now heavy and solid, is easier to transport to a local processer where it is shredded down into smaller plastics pellets. These pellets are turned into items like building insulation, flooring products and photo frames.

Next time you get a delivery, save that ‘styrene and Recycle It Saturday.

Just remember we can’t take anything bendy or squishy, like foam wrap, foam sheets, packing peanuts or bean bag filling.

X-rays

Old x-ray, MRI and CT scans or films can be fully recycled when you drop them off at Recycle It Saturday. As for any personal details, they get destroyed in the recycling process.

We send these films to a local processor where the silver is recycled using an electrolytic process. Firstly, the films are placed in a chemical bath that dissolves any silver in the imaging layer. An electric current is then passed through the solution, depositing the pure metallic silver on one of the electrodes.

Back in its original, precious metal state, this silver can be recycled into items such as jewellery, utensil plating and electrical components.

The remaining backing film is made from plastic, which gets recycled into a range of products, from shampoo bottles to polyester fleece.

By recycling, we can recover precious metals and reduce the need to mine for new resources.

Electronics

E-waste, or electronic waste, includes everything from old televisions and computers to microwaves and mobile phones.

These electronics are not really waste at all, but valuable resources. The electronics we collect are diverted from landfill and around 95% of raw materials recovered are recycled.

Electronics are sent to a local processor where they are sorted and broken down into various parts including glass, metals, plastics, batteries, cabling and circuit boards. These materials are used to make new products. Remember to delete your data before dropping your device off. The recycling process doesn’t include data wiping.

The plastic in many electronics and devices can be recycled into new plastic products, such as shipping pallets, outdoor furniture, play equipment and pens.

Batteries are an important item to recycle. They contain materials that are non-renewable – once we run out, they can’t be replenished. The good news is battery materials such as mercury, lithium and zinc can be recycled over and over again to make new batteries.

Some electronics may be repaired and refurbished before being resold by our local processor. These items undergo data wiping before they are resold.

Who knows, you may have parts of your old mobile in your new device.

Small metal items

At Recycle It Saturday we’ll take any small items that weigh less than 10kg and are made mostly of metal – think pots and pans that have cooked their last meal, old cutlery, mystery keys, nuts and bolts, metal jewellery, hammers, screwdrivers or those wire coat hangers from the dry cleaner.

Once you’ve dropped them off, we send your small metal items to a local recycling facility, where they’re sorted into categories like steel, copper, aluminium, lead, silver and gold.

After this, these different metals are shredded and sent to a smelter, where they’re mixed with other materials to create brand-new products – again reducing the need to mine for new resources and giving valuable metals a second life.

Bicycles

If you drop off an old bicycle, it’ll be picked up by Revolve ReCYCLING, a not-for-profit organisation based in Alexandria.

If your bicycle has reached the end of its life, Revolve will resell or use the working parts to get other bicycles up and running, while the remaining steel, aluminium and rubber will be recycled to make new products.

If your bicycle is still in good condition, Revolve will repair and refurbish it for resale at an affordable price – or, if it’s a kid’s bicycle, it’ll be repaired and donated through the Benevolent Society to a family in need.

The next Recycle It Saturday is on Saturday 18 May from 9am to 3pm at Alexandra Canal Depot. Find out what you can bring.