Community Recycling Centre

The Community Recycling Centre is located at 123A Forest Road at the Tamworth Waste Management Facility.

Residents can dispose of the following household items free of charge all year round at the Community Recycling Centre which is open during the normal Tamworth Waste Management Facility operational hours.

Local councils and other organisations operate these centres in partnership with the EPA and are provided as part of Waste Less, Recycle More.  CRCs are free for all NSW residents.  To locate other CRCs across NSW, visit NSW EPA Recycling Centres.

Gas Bottles

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, gas cylinders are collected to be sent for collection of residual material for reuse. Undamaged bottles are retested, restamped and entered into the hire industry. Damaged bottles are punctured and recycled as scrap metal.

Fire extinguishers

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, fire extinguishers are collected to be sent for collection of residual material and recycling of containers.

Batteries (Vehicle)

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, vehicle batteries are collected and stored separately on site. These are also collected for reprocessing and recycling by an approved contractor.

Dry Cell Batteries (Household)

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, dry cell batteries recycling (AA, AAA, C, D, 9v torch & cordless appliance batteries) are collected and stored separately.
There are also collect receptacles at all the Barraba and Manilla Council branch offices should you be visiting these locations. 

Once your battery is used, tape both ends of the battery terminals, store them in a safe location, out of reach of children before dropping them of at your nearest battery recycling collection point.

Embedded Battery Products (i.e. Vapes, Power banks, Smart watches)

Products with embedded batteries are becoming increasingly prevalent in our everyday lives. Chances are you might not even be aware of how many embedded batteries are collectively in your home. 

Products with embedded batteries are considered problematic as they can be difficult to dispose of or recycle at their end of life due to the different components and materials that they’re made of. All batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries, should never be disposed of in your kerbside red, yellow or green bins as they contain chemical substances that can be harmful to human health and the environment. 

What products are accepted at the Community Recycling Centre as part of the Embedded Batteries Trial?

Common items you might have at home that may contain an embedded battery are:

• Bluetooth speakers and headphones
• Electric toothbrushes
• E-scooters, e-bikes and hover boards
• Flashing/light up toys – particularly wands or other hard plastic products
• Personal care devices (eg. shavers)
• Powerpacks and portable charging devices
• Remote controlled and ride-on toys
• Vacuum cleaners (cordless hand-held and robotic)
• Vapes
• Wearable devices such as smart watches, trackers and medical aids

If you have an unusual product, please contact council prior to coming to site to check if we are able to receive the item 6767 5555. 

What products are not accepted as part of the Embedded Batteries Trial?

Products covered under the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme (NTCRS) should be directed to Council’s e-waste collection, also located at the Community Recycling Centre. 

This includes e-waste such as televisions, computers, printers, computer parts and peripherals. E-waste products containing an embedded battery, such as rechargeable gaming controllers and laptops, are accepted as part of the NTCRS rather than through the trial. 

Mobile phones and associated accessories should be directed to your nearest MobileMuster collection point. MobileMuster is the product stewardship scheme for the collection and recycling of old and broken phones, chargers and accessories. These can be recycled at any MobileMuster location: https://www.mobilemuster.com.au/recycle-a-mobile/

How long is the Embedded Batteries Trial for?

The Embedded Batteries Trial will began September 2024 and will run until September 2026.

How can other batteries be recycled?

Loose handheld (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, 6V and button cell batteries) can be recycled at the following locations: 

• Community Recycling Centres
  
• Household Chemical CleanOut events
  
• Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, IGA and Bunnings
  
• At any B-cycle accredited location: visit bcycle.com.au

Car batteries can be recycled at any Community Recycling Centre or Household Chemical CleanOut event. 

Once your battery is used, tape both ends of the battery terminals, store them in a safe location, out of reach of children before dropping them of at your nearest battery recycling collection point.

Fluorescent tubes or globes

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, residents can dispose of fluro light tubes or globes in the collection receptacle provided. This does not include the housing for the lights. Fluoro tubes and globes contain mercury. Recyclers crush the tubes to separate the phosphor powder from the glass. They feed the powder through receiving containers, where it is filtered to capture fugitive mercury emissions. The mercury is then separated by distillation and sold for a range of industrial uses. The metals are also recycled.

E-Waste

E-waste includes only the following type of items: TV’s, computer monitors/screens, computer towers, laptops, printers, keyboards, mouse, printers and their cords. E-waste

All items must be whole to be disposed of for FREE and if they are not, then they are considered general waste and may attract a disposal fee. 

Other E-waste items that are collected separately include:

Mobile Phones

Tamworth Regional Council proudly support MobileMuster, the official recycling program of the mobile phone industry in Australia. The program collects and recycles mobile phones, batteries and accessories to prevent them from ending up in landfill.

There are a number of official MobileMuster drop-off points in our region including all Council offices . For an up-to-date list of all drop-off points in the Tamworth area, visit the MobileMuster website.  Phones must be whole phones (not in pieces).

Printer and Toner Cartridges

Tamworth Regional Council proudly support Cartridges for Planet Ark.

Printer cartridges are made of a mix of plastics, metal, inks and toners which represent a significant investment in resources that are lost when they are disposed in landfill. Cartridges for Planet Ark collect and return printer cartridges for remanufacturing and recycling, keeping them out of landfill.

Residents can place printer cartridges or photocopier toner bottles in the 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark' bins.  Please do not place drum cylinders or other machine parts in these collection boxes as these items are not accepted as part of this program.

Businesses can register with Planet Ark to have their own collection box by registering here and finding out the details of how to return them to Planet Ark once the collection box is full.  This will save you having to take them to a collection facility.

There is a small collection bin at the CRC and there are a number of official Cartridges for Planet Ark drop-off points in our region including all Council offices and Australia Post Outlets. 

For more information, call the Cartridges Hotline on 1800 24 24 73 or visit the official Cartridges for Planet Ark website. 

Used motor oil

Residents can deposit 40L of used motor oil for free each time they visit the landfill. The used oil is collected then taken to a reprocessing facility to become a lubricant or used for waste to energy. 

Paint

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, both water and oil based paints are collected and stored separately. Once they have been collected from our site, they are mixed with other waste solvents and used as an alternative to fuel in cement kilns. The metal containers are recycled.

Other oils

Other oils that are collected separately at the Community Recycling Centre include cooking oil, hydraulic oil, transmission oils, automatic oil, gearbox oil and break fluids.  The used oil is collected then taken to a reprocessing facility to become a lubricant or used for waste to energy. Any oil received needs to be received in <20L container size.

Smoke detectors

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, smoke detectors are collected as ionisation smoke alarms contain very small amounts of radiation which while on their own don’t pose a problem but collection and disposal is preferred through the CRC.

X-Rays

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, x-ray films can be deposited in the collection bin which then are then collected and recycled to recover silver contained within them.

Ink cartridges

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, home printer cartridges are collected and sent back through to Plant Ark for recycling.  Commercial or business who wish to recycle their toner cartridges should work with the supplier of their toner cartridges or machines to recycle their toners as these are often quite bulky and unsuitable for this particular collection program.

Mobile phones

As part of the Community Recycling Centre for problem wastes, mobile phones are collected and recycled through the Mobile Muster Program.