What can I recycle

1. Recycle Right

Recycling is an excellent way to help reduce the:

• volume of waste sent to landfill.
• amount of raw materials extracted from the environment, saving water, energy, natural resources and greenhouse gases.
• costs associated with waste disposal and the manufacture of new products.

In order to ensure the material that is collected in our yellow kerbside collection bins continue to be recycled, we need to keep it simple and keep it clean.

Follow the six Recycle Right messages below for using your yellow lid recycling bin:

• Keep it Simple: Only recycle paper and cardboard, steel and aluminium cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles and containers.
• Keep out Soft Plastics: This includes all plastic bags, even if they have a recycling symbol, are degradable or compostable, and other soft plastics including cling wrap, chip packets and bread bags.
• Keep out Small Items: Any items smaller than a credit card. All plastic lids now need to be removed from bottles and those smaller than a credit card put in your landfill bin.
• Keep it Safe: Keep out strapping, hose, netting, wires, building materials and other hazardous materials.
• Keep it Clean: wipe or rinse any excess food and drink from all bottles, containers and tins before placing them in your recycling bin. Keep out food scraps, nappies and soiled paper
• Keep it Loose: put each item into your yellow recycling bin separately, don’t bag, box or contain your recyclable items. 

You can print a Recycle Right poster to display in your school, workplace or home. Download here(PDF, 2MB).

2. Where does my recycling go?

We would like to reassure residents that the recyclables collected by Council collection vehicles in all areas of the Snowy Monaro region are being transported and processed at the ReGroup Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Hume, ACT and are NOT going to landfill.

The ReGroup Materials Recovery Facility in Hume is one of the best comingled sorting facilities in Australia.

What happens after the commingled recycling is processed at the Hume facility, where is it taken?

• Paper & Cardboard - All fibre products are sold to Visy’s Tumut paper mill
• Glass is converted into sand, which is sold into local civil markets
• PET Plastic (e.g. soft drink bottles) usually is sent to Sydney for remanufacture
• HDPE Plastic (e.g. milk bottles) usually is sent to Narrabri for remanufacture 
• Mixed Plastic is traditionally exported to international markets
• Aluminium usually is sent to an aluminium smelter in QLD
• Steel is traditionally exported to international markets
• Contamination, which is generally 10% of a domestic recycling bin, which is non-recyclable items are disposed at the Mugga Lane landfill
  
  

Recycling is a team effort and we need your help! 

We're running out of space at our landfills for all of our garbage.

Material Recovery Facilities help keep certain items from going to the landfill!

Handy hints for what you CAN put in our region's commingled recycling bins:

• Pizza Boxes can be recycled if you scrape away the food remnants and recycle the empty cardboard box
• Aluminium is a highly valuable resource and aluminium food trays and foil can be recycled! Simply scrape/remove excess food and scrunch into a ball golf-size or larger
• Aerosols can be recycled, please ensure they are completely empty and lids removed
• Paper towels, serviettes, tissues and toilet paper cannot be recycled, though can be disposed of in the Food and Garden Organic bin if available, home compost or placed into the general waste bin.
• The central cardboard roll in toilet paper and foil can be recycled. 
• Paper and Cardboard all can be recycled, except shredded paper which is too light and flimsy to be sorted correctly and causes litter issues.  Shredded paper can be composted or can be placed into the waste bin.
• Rigid plastics including plastic drink bottles, milk bottles, rigid plastic containers including fruit punnets, meat trays and biscuit trays are all generally recyclable – look for the recycling triangle and the numbers 1, 2, 3 & 5 which can all go in the recycling bin.
• Please do not put plastic bags or any soft plastic (like bread bags, lolly bags, plastic wrap) in the mixed/commingled recycling. Soft Plastics can be taken to your local REDcycle collection point for recycling or placed in the general waste bin.
• Window glass, pyrex dishes, wine glasses (or any pre-heated glass) and crockery are not recyclable and need to be placed in the waste bin.
• Light globes and Batteries can not be placed in the recycle bin. Batteries and Fluoro lights can be deposited for free at Community Recycling Centres and Council Waste Facilities.

3. drumMUSTER Container Recycling

Snowy Monaro Regional Council offers drumMUSTER collection.  You can drop off eligible drumMUSTER containers at the following times:

• Adaminaby Transfer Station:  Saturdays 10am - 3pm - 6457 1064 (Jindabyne Landfill)
• Berridale Transfer Station:  Sundays 10am - 3pm - 6457 1064 (Jindabyne Landfill)
• Bombala Landfill: by appointment only - 0439 066 601
• Cooma Landfill: first Friday of the month by appointment only - 6452 1105
• Jindabyne Landfill: 7 days normal operating hours - 6457 1064

Please ensure you call to prearrange a drop off time at Bombala and Cooma facilities.

For more information on Adaminaby and Berridale Transfer Stations drop off arrangements contact Jindabyne Landfill on 6457 1064.

Rinse them out, Round them up, and Run them in   

drumMUSTER is specially designed for the disposal of eligible, cleaned agricultural and veterinary (agvet) chemical containers.

drumMUSTER collects eligible non-returnable metal or plastic containers above one litre/kilogram and up to 205 litre/ kilogram in declared content in the packaging of crop production and animal health products used for:

• agricultural and livestock production
• industrial and recreational pest and weed control
• forestry
• household pest control operations
• similar activities conducted by government authorities.

Participating manufacturers are identified by the inclusion of the eligible drumMUSTER container logo on their eligible containers. The logo can be displayed on the chemical label, embossed into the container wall or applied as a sticker to the container. Containers not displaying this logo may be from non-participating manufacturers and will not be accepted into the program.

All containers must be triple rinsed, empty, with lids off, as well as displaying the drumMUSTER container logo (example below).

All containers are inspected at site drop-off and  non-eligible or unclean containers will be rejected.

Want to know more!!!

Check out drumMUSTER website with more information about Container Recycling, finding your nearest collection site, who's involved and loads more.

Visit drumMUSTER's YouTube Channel.

4. Australian Recycling Label

Snowy Monaro Council supports the ARL which helps makes recycling easier for residents - just follow the instructions on your food packaging!

What is the ARL?

The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) is an evidence based standardised system that provides you with easy to understand recycling information for packaging of participating brands. 

It shows what needs to be done with each piece of a package to dispose of it in the best way. The ARL was designed by Planet Ark to remove recycling confusion, educate consumers and reduce contamination of recycling streams at kerbside.

How it works?

The label tells consumers how to correctly dispose of each component of the packaging, by doing so, it is possible to reduce contamination in the recycling bin and avoid extra costs that are caused by items that are not recyclable. It is the right label for the right bin.

What is PREP?

The Packaging Recyclability Evaluation Portal (PREP) is a unique online tool that packaging designers can use to assess the recyclability of a package.

The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) program will reduce waste by:

• Delivering a clear, well-understood label that will provide greater consumer clarity about what packaging can be recycled.
• Increasing the recovery of recyclable materials and reducing contamination in the waste stream.
• Helping brands to design packaging that is easier to recycle.
• Supporting businesses to inform consumers about the recyclability of their packaging.

5. Community Recycling Centres

Drop off batteries, ink cartridges and fluoro globes for FREE at your Community Recycling Station!

Six new Community Recycling Stations (CRS) are now ready for use in Snowy Monaro Region.

The new CRS provide residents with a FREE and convenient way to dispose of household batteries, ink cartridges and fluoro globes.

What happens to the Fluoro globes, ink cartridges and household batteries once dropped off at these drop off stations?

Council will transport the materials collected to the larger Community Recycling Centre at Cooma Landfill or Jindabyne Landfill.

The small problem waste items will be recycled and/or safely disposed. This improves our recycling rates and keeps potentially hazardous materials from entering our environment.

Community Recycling Stations are located at:

• Cooma Library
• Cooma and Berridale Council Offices
• Bombala Community Centre
• Jindabyne Mitre 10
• Michelago Bank of Bins

This project was funded with a CRC Education grant which CRJO received from the NSW Department of Planning, Environment and Infrastructure. This program is supported by NSW Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.

6. NSW Container Deposit Scheme

Return and Earn is the state’s largest litter-reduction initiative and will help to reduce the almost 160 million drink containers littered in NSW communities every year.

To participate you simply take your eligible containers, that should be empty, uncrushed, unbroken and with the original label attached, to your closest return point. You can visit the Return and Earn website to check drop-off locations.

You can still use your kerbside recycling bins for ineligible drink containers. You can also still place your eligible containers into the kerbside recycling bins or even donate them to local charities or community groups that are collecting them for fundraising purposes.

How it works

Simply save your eligible containers and take them to a Return and Earn reverse vending machine near you.

• Receive a 10cent refund per container
• Up to 500 containers are accepted in a single visit
• Refunds are paid by electronic transfers into nominated accounts
• Alternatively, a refund voucher can be printed for use at Woolworths
• Refunds can also be donated to selected charities
• Containers should not be crushed or broken and need their labels attached
• We suggest separating containers into plastic, glass, and metal groups before you go

The Return and Earn scheme is not a Council run scheme and we do not operate the vending machine. If you have a complaint about the scheme please contact Return and Earn via their website www.returnandearn.org.au.

What if the return point is filthy?

The Network Operator, TOMRA Cleanaway, regularly services over 600 return points across the state. Report an unclean return point by emailing customerservice@tcnsw.com.au or calling TOMRA Cleanaway on 1800 290 691.

Collection points

Bombala, Cooma and Jindabyne have sites ready to exchange eligible drink containers for a 10 cent refund as part of the NSW Government's container deposit scheme Return and Earn.

Bombala Powers IGA - The collection point is an over the counter (OTCs) site

128 Maybe Street, Bombala NSW

Open 8am - 12noon, seven days per week.

Cooma Woolworths Carpark - The collection point is a reverse vending machine (RVMs)

12-20 Vale Street, Cooma NSW

Open 7am - 10pm, seven days per week.

Lake Jindabyne Hotel Carpark - The collection point is a reverse vending machine (RVMs)

21 McLure Circuit, Jindabyne NSW

Open 8am - 6pm, seven days per week 

7. Resource Recovery

As our commingled mixed recycling goes to the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Hume ACT, you may wish to visit the Recyclopaedia A to Z listing to check whether or not you can place a tricky recycling item into your yellow lidded recycling bin.

Mobile Phones

You can drop off your old mobile phones, batteries and accessories at all Council offices and waste facilities through the MobileMuster program.

Please click here to read further and learn more about this great program and below links for more information.

Printer Cartridges

Printer Cartridges can be dropped off for recycling at all Council's offices and waste facilities through the Planet Ark program.