There are many items we use in our daily lives which cannot go in the kerbside rubbish collection. However, there are other means of recycling these items.
Council is associated with the following programs to ensure the safe disposal of waste and recyclables from within and around your home: Buy Recycled, Zero Waste Map, Mobile Muster, Drum Muster, E-Waste Disposal, and Detox Your Home.
Colac Otway Shire transfer stations are located in Alvie, Apollo Bay and Birregurra. Western Waste Management is located at 11-27 Marriner Street, Colac
Below is a list of what you can recycle and where you can go to dispose of these items.
|
What can I recycle?
|
Where can I go to recycle this?
|
|
Old mobile phones
|
The Mobile Muster phone recycling program is available within the Shire at:
|
|
Household batteries (e.g. A, AA, C, D & 9 volt)
|
Or for more information on battery disposal visit the Battery World website.
|
|
Non-household batteries
|
|
|
Printer cartridges (non-commercial)
|
|
|
CDs & DVDs
|
|
|
Empty agricultural drums (drums which contained surfactants, dairy chemicals, liquid fertilisers and other non-hazardous farm chemicals)
|
The Drum Muster recycling program is available within the Colac Otway Shire at:
Find out more about the Drum Muster program below.
|
|
Unwanted agricultural chemicals
|
Register your chemicals with ChemClear and receive information about collection dates in the Colac Otway Shire.
|
|
Unwanted household chemicals
|
Information regarding the Detox Your Home program is available at the Sustainability Victoria Website.
Find out more about the Detox Your Home program below, including other collection services.
|
|
Unwanted medicines
|
|
|
Light globes and fluorescent light bulbs
|
|
|
Asbestos
|
Contact the Colac Otway Shire Council and ask to speak with an Environmental Health Officer, or visit the Victorian asbestos information website.
|
|
Paint-Wet
|
|
|
Scrap Metal
|
|
| Soft Plastics |
Due to Redcycle/ Supermarkets currently not processing soft plastics, please place all soft plastics in the red garbage bin, until this service is back in operation.
|
| X-Rays |
X-ray films contain silver in the form of halides, which can be extracted and converted into pure silver.
1300 32 62 92
www.ecocycle.com.au
|
E-waste – or electronic waste – is growing three times faster than the rate of standard municipal waste. It contains many potentially hazardous and valuable materials, which don‘t belong in landfill.
To help protect our environment and recover more precious resources, the Victorian Government is banning all e-waste from going to landfill as of 1 July 2019. That means, e-waste can’t go in any bin.
Recycle your e-waste (for free) at a Colac Otway Shire transfer station located at Alvie, Apollo Bay and Birregurra.
What is E-waste?
E-waste-or electronic waste - is any item with a plug, battery or power cord.
Large items:
- Refrigerators
- Washing machines
- Microwaves
Small appliances:
- Irons
- Toasters
-
Hair Dryers
For a comprehensive list of what items are classified as e-waste visit the Sustainability Victoria website at: https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/Campaigns/eWaste/What-is-ewaste
Why recycle E-waste?
E-waste contains hazardous materials, which can harm the environment and human health.
E-waste is growing three times faster than general municipal waste in Australia, due to increased technology trends, reduced product lifespan and consumer demand for new products.
Valuable materials contained in e-waste are lost when appliances, computers and other household electrical goods are sent to landfill.
For more information on recycling e-waste and how e-waste can be reused, visit the Sustainability Victoria website at: https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/Campaigns/eWaste
The Detox Your Home program is a free service from Sustainability Victoria which enables the safe disposal of potentially dangerous household chemicals and other products, all collected items are recycled for recovery and diverted from landfill.
For more information please click on the frequently asked questions about detoxing your home or visit Sustainability Victoria’s Detox Your Home website for more information about the services.
A national recycling program designed to collect empty, non-returnable chemical containers used in agricultural and veterinary operations and place them in the recycling system.
All containers accepted by Drum Muster are recycled and made into products the community uses everyday, including pipes for drainage, irrigation applications, outdoor furniture, wheelie bins and road signage.
Burning or burying un-cleaned chemical containers on farms is illegal and incurs substantial criminal penalties, including fines of up to $500,000.
Recycling your eligible farm chemical containers with Drum Muster is easy.
All you need to do is follow these simple steps:
- Triple or pressure rinse your containers immediately after use
- Make sure all chemical residue is removed
- Remove lids to allow containers to dry (take lids separately to collections)
- Metal containers should be punctured from the top through to the bottom
- Pour the rinse water back into your spray tank
- Deliver your eligible clean containers to your local Drum Muster collection centre, Alvie Transfer Station.
Visit the Drum Muster website for more information.
Gas bottles and cylinders can be disposed of through your nearest Elgas branch or depot.
Butane gas canisters can also be taken to Elgas for safe disposal.
Call 1300 652 003 to find your nearest Elgas branch.
Mercury can be disposed of at Corio Waste Management.
Corio Waste Management
41-49 Wills Crescent, Moolap
Phone 03 5275 9500
There are now 142 Supercheap Auto stores Australia wide that offer oil recycling to encourage their customers to dispose of oil in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.
Used engine oil in a 10 litre (or smaller) sealed containers can be accepted at the Colac Store and will be collected by Trans Pacific for recycling.
Western Waste Management also accept waste oil, engine and cooking oils.
Repco and SuperCheap Auto in Colac both offer free safe disposal of car and motorbike batteries.
Supercheap Auto
74/81 Bromfield Street, Colac
Repco Colac
299-303 Murray St, Colac
For more information please visit -https://www.repco.com.au/know-how/battery-recycling
Soft plastic CAN NOT be placed in the yellow recycle bin.
Due to Redcycle no longer processing soft plastics for Coles and Woolworths, all soft plastics to be placed in the red landfill bin.
Lightweight Plastic Bag Ban
Lightweight plastic shopping bags will no longer be available in Victoria as part of the state-wide ban coming into effect from 1 November 2019.
What is banned?
The ban applies to lightweight plastic shopping bags with a thickness of 35 microns or less, including degradable, biodegradable and compostable bags.
The ban applies to all retailers, including supermarkets, food outlets, clothing stores, markets, cafes, bakeries, greengrocers and many more.
Want to find out more?
To learn more about the Better Bag Habits campaign visit www.betterbaghabits.vic.gov.au
Business and industry information is also available at www.vicbagban.com.au
The Zero Waste Map is one of the projects funded by the Local Government Program. It’s designed to make it easy for the community to find goods and services that help them reduce waste to landfill and improve recycling. You can access the map here.
Have you got an item that need repairing, then pop into the Repair Cafe.
Colac Otway Repair Cafe
55 Hesse Street, Colac (Kanyana Club)
Opening hours
First Sunday of the month - 10am to 1pm
Repair cafes are a world-wide movement with the aim of keeping repairable items out of landfill.