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Other waste

Landfill is the last resort for dealing with waste. Many waste items can be recycled and made into new products by the resource recovery industry.

Below is a list of tricky items we may need to dispose of and how they can be recycled or disposed of safely. It is best to check with these businesses directly about any fees which may apply.

Aluminium foil and trays

Foil pie trays, cooking trays and alfoil sheets (food-free) can be collected into a fist-sized ball and placed in your recycling bin (yellow lid). Small empty pet food tins can also go into the recycling bin (a quick scrape out or rinse is helpful).

Batteries - household

Household batteries include AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, button cell.

Why recycle them?
Around 8,000 tonnes of batteries are disposed to landfills in Australia each year, making them the most common form of hazardous household waste. This also represents a huge loss of valuable, non-renewable resources.

Where can they be dropped off?
Free drop-off recycling locations are now conveniently available at many supermarkets and hardware stores. Find you closest battery recycler on the B-cycle website.

Car and truck batteries

Car and truck batteries contain valuable resources such as lead. Various collection points are listed below, though you may find others from searching online.

  • Independent Battery Distributors (IBD)
    Marion Industrial Park
    Unit 5, 937 Marion Road, Mitchell Park SA 5043
    Phone: 8296 6311
    All types of vehicle and household batteries accepted free of charge.
  • Daws Road Bottle Co
    76 Daws Road, Edwardstown SA 5039
    Phone: 8277 5588
  • Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre
    181 Morphett Road, North Plympton SA 5037
    Phone: 8295 5077
  • Battery World Marion
    173 Sturt Road, Seacombe Gardens SA 5047
    Phone: 8296 6900
    Fees apply for disposal of commercial quantities.
Cling wrap

This item goes in the waste bin at home (red lid). Cling wrap cannot go in your recycling bin at home as it gets caught in the recycling machinery and causes breakdowns.

Clothing, shoes and bags

For good quality clothing and accessories, you can donate them to charity shops. Find a listing of local shops on our Reducing waste page.

Cooking oil

Oils are banned from landfill and cannot be put into any of your bins at home.

Domestic quantities of oil from households, small businesses and community groups can be recycled free of charge. Bring your used cooking oil in a container for decanting into a drum at:

Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre
181 Morphett Road, North Plympton SA 5037
Phone: 8295 5077

E-waste

Electronic (e-waste) is anything that needed a plug or a battery to work. These include everything from computers, TVs, printers and DVD players, to hairdryers and electric mixers.

Visit our Electronic waste page for disposal options.

Gas bottles

Empty gas bottles can be taken to any 'Swap and Go' location and replaced at cost with a full gas bottle correctly filled and serviced by technicians (refer to link below for locations).

Empty gas bottles can be taken to:

  • Daws Road Recycling Centre
    76 Daws Road, Edwardstown SA 5039
    Phone: 8277 5588 (check whether fees may apply)
  • Adelaide Waste and Recycling (hazardous waste drop-off)
    181 Morphett Road, North Plympton SA 5037
    Phone: 8295 5077
Hazardous waste

Some tricky waste is hazardous, such as pool and garden chemicals, heavy metals and cleaning fluids. For more information go to our Hazardous waste page.

For information about asbestos, visit our Asbestos page.

Light globes

You can drop off old fluorescent light globes at the counter of any Mitre 10 or True value hardware store. This is a free service and excludes commercial quantities of globes.

The City of Marion also provides a drop-off service for recycling household fluorescent globes and energy saving bulbs.

This ensures that globes will be recycled instead of going to landfill and prevents mercury contained in some globes from harming the environment.

Residents can can bring up to six domestic globes at any one visit for recycling to:

City Services
935 Marion Road, Mitchell Park SA 5043
Monday to Friday 8.00am - 3.00pm

Mattresses, couches and other furniture

Council offers a free collection service through the hard rubbish collection service. Visit our Hard rubbish collections page to find out more about this service and book a collection.

Medicines/ pharmaceuticals

Any unwanted medicines should be taken to a pharmacy for safe disposal. All chemists accept old medication and pills. Unwanted medicines should never be put in the waste bin (red lid) or down the drain.

Mobile phones

Recycling mobile phones is easy. Simply take your phone into any mobile phone shop or Post Office and ask for it to be recycled.

Alternatively you can recycle it through council by placing it in the Mobile Muster tube in the foyer of:

  • City of Marion
    245 Sturt Road, Sturt SA 5047
    Monday to Friday 8.30am - 5.00pm
  • Cove Civic Centre 1
    Ragamuffin Drive, Hallett Cove SA 5158
  • Park Holme Library
    1 Duncan Avenue, Park Holme SA 5043

Find out more about mobile phone recycling on the Mobile Muster website.

Motor oil

Households, small businesses and hobby groups can recycle small quantities of oil at any of the following locations free of charge:

  • Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre
    181 Morphett Road, North Plympton SA 5037
    Phone: 8295 5077
  • Southern Region Waste Resource Authority
    112 Bakewell Drive, Seaford Heights SA 5169
  • Supercheap Auto
    Find the nearest participating store on their website:
    Supercheap Auto website

Most garages will also accept oil.

Paint

Paint is only hazardous when it is wet. Dry paint is perfectly safe to dispose of in your waste bin (red lid). You can dry and harden paint by leaving the lid off or purchase a paint hardener from a hardware store and then tap the dry paint tablet into the waste bin.

If it’s only got a little paint left, pour it over kitty litter or newspaper, let it dry, and then put it in your red lidded general rubbish bin. The dry and empty paint tin can go in the recycling bin.

Liquid paint can be recycled for free through the Paintback program, locally available at:

Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre
181 Morphett Road, North Plympton SA 5037
Phone: 8295 5077

Find out more, including other locations, on the Paintback website.

Printer cartridges

You can drop off your used printer cartridges at all Officeworks and participating Australia Post, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, and JB Hi-fi outlets.

Sharps

Many pharmacies will accept used syringes from residents with medical conditions (needles and syringes must be returned in a medical sharps container).

The City of Marion Customer Service Centre on Sturt Road also has a sharps disposal unit for customers to dispose of syringes which are contained in medical sharps disposal containers.

Smoke alarms

Up to two domestic smoke alarms can be disposed to your waste bin (red lid) per week.
Businesses will need to contact the EPA Radiation Protection Branch on 8204 2004.

Tyres

Many garages and businesses will take in old tyres for a small fee. For disposal of old car tyres you can contact:

  • Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre
    181 Morphett Road, North Plympton
    Phone 8295 5077
  • Tyre Cycle
    8 Meyer Road, Lonsdale
    Phone 8325 4700
    http://www.tyrecycle.com.au/
  • The Tyre Collectors
    26 Cormack Road, Wingfield
    Phone 8252 7000

Tyre retailers including Beaurepairs, Kmart Tyre and Auto Service and Goodyear Autocare may also accept your unwanted tyres.

X-rays

X-rays can be taken to the following places:

  • Some local radiology centres will take them - call to check first
  • Drop them off or post them to Ecocyle, 1A Portsmouth Court, Gillman SA 5015.