Skip to main content

Tricky and Hazardous Waste

Tricky and Hazardous Waste

Not sure what to do with tricky waste, like alfoil, batteries, building materials, clothing, shoes, mattresses, bulbs, gas bottles, paint or oil? See our guide for safely disposing of these items.

Alfoil, including pie tins and cooking trays, can be bundled up to about the size of a fist and be recycled in the yellow-lid bin.

You can’t put asbestos in any of your bins or out for hard waste collection - it is a serious health hazard.

Use a licensed asbestos professional or visit the EPA or Safework SA.

For information on safely and legally removing asbestos, visit the SA State Government asbestos website.

Full bean bags can be placed into the red landfill bin. They take up a lot of room so consider taking your bean bag to the Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre, 181 Morphett Road, North Plympton.

If you have loose beans please place them into a bag then you can dispose of them safely in the red landfill bin.

All building and construction waste must be taken to a drop-off location. These items can be taken to:

  • Adelaide Waste & Recycling Centre,
    181 Morphett Road, North Plympton
    8295 5077
  • Metro Waste
    19-25 Murray Street, Thebarton
    8443 8827

This includes:

  • Bricks
  • Cement
  • Masonry
  • Soil
  • Tiles

These items can be taken to:

  • Adelaide Waste & Recycling Centre,
    181 Morphett Road, North Plympton
    8295 5077
  • Southern Region Waste Disposal Depot,
    Wheaton Road, McLaren Vale
    8386 0273
  • Daws Road Bottle Co.
    76 Daws Road, Edwardstown
    8277 5588

Do not put plastic bags or plastic film in your yellow-lidded bin, these items cause problems with conveyor belts at recycling facilities.

They can be taken to the Brighton Civic Centre and/or Glenelg North Community Garden.

Good quality clothing can be donated to Vinnies, Salvos, RSPCA, Diabetes SA, Red Cross and Save the Children. Other clothing can be recycled as rags and donated to RSPCA charity shops. Let them know your items are for this use, it helps them sort into the correct bag. All types of textiles and footwear can also be dropped at the H&M store in Rundle Mall, Adelaide.

E-cigarettes and vapes with a battery can be placed into a battery recycling bin.

If you have removed the battery you can recycle them at e-waste recycling sites, such as Unplug 'N Drop locations.

Collection of e-waste is free with Councils’ hard rubbish collection. Alternatively, Electronic Recycling Australia (ERA) has several ‘Unplug N’ Drop’ locations across Adelaide where e-waste can be dropped off for free. To find your nearest location visit electronicrecyclingaustralia.com.au or call 8374 2276.

You can drop old globes including fluorescent tubes, incandescent, and halogen bulbs at Mitre 10 stores.

To dispose of out-of-date gas bottles residents can take them to any ‘Swap and Go’ location or to Adelaide Waste and Recycling at 181 Morphett Road, North Plympton.

Council offers a hard rubbish collection service to residents for large household items that cannot be put in their bins. Each household is allocated one FREE collection per financial year. This service now includes e-waste and mattresses. To book a collection, call 8295 5077 or complete the online form.

Pool chemicals, paint, motor oils, garden and other household chemicals cannot be put in your bins. All of these chemicals can be dropped, free of charge, to several 7-day-a-week facilities across Adelaide.

The closest to Holdfast Bay is the Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre, 181 Morphett Road, North Plympton. For more locations see greenindustries.sa.gov.au/hazwaste

Batteries can be dropped off at Brighton Civic Centre, Glenelg Library, Battery World, Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings and Aldi stores.

Plastic lids can remain on empty plastic containers including milk bottles and laundry detergent bottles.

If plastic lids are larger than 5 cm, such as the lid on peanut butter containers, they can go into your recycling bin separately. They do not need to be collected in another container.
Metal lids, including beer bottle tops, can be placed loose into the recycling bin as they will be picked up by the magnets at our recycling facility.

Collection is free through Council's Hard rubbish collection.

Plastic blister packs with a foil lining cannot be recycled via your yellow-lid bin. However, they can be taken to your nearest National Pharmacy or Blooms (the chemist store) for recycling as part of the Pharmacycle program.

Alfoil blister packs can be bundled up with other alfoil items to about the size of a fist and be recycled in the yellow-lid bin.

Mobile phones can be placed into any Unplug ‘N Drop location, including the Brighton Civic Centre. To find your nearest Unplug 'N Drop location visit electronicrecyclingaustralia.com.au

Small volume users of motor oil such as households, small businesses and hobby groups can recycle oil at any of the following locations free of charge:

  • Southern Region Waste Disposal Depot, Wheaton Road, McLaren Vale,
    8386 0273
  • Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre,
    181 Morphett Road, North Plympton
    8295 5790
  • Southern Waste Management, (Lonsdale Waste & Recycling Depot), 10 Donegal Road, Lonsdale
    8326 5033

Tins of wet paint can be taken for free to any SA household chemical and paint drop-off depot.

The nearest one to Holdfast Bay is the Adelaide Waste & Recycling Centre, 181 Morphett Road, North Plympton.

For other locations see greenindustries.sa.gov.au/hazwaste

All plastic plant pots can be placed in your yellow-lid recycling bin. Bunnings stores also accept plastic pots, plastic plant labels and plastic stakes for recycling.

Residents can drop off printer cartridges at the Brighton Civic Centre. Alternatively, you can use retail drop-off points with Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program partners.

Visit recyclingnearyou.com.au

Sharps can be taken to local chemists for recycling.

Up to two domestic smoke alarms can be disposed of in your red-lid bin per collection.

Businesses will need to contact EPA Radiation Protection on 8204 2004

Large amounts of soil cannot go in any of your bins. It must be taken to a waste transfer depot. The nearest one to Holdfast Bay is the Adelaide Waste and Recycling Centre, 181 Morphett Road, North Plympton, 8295 5790.

Eagle Sun Enterprises collect used solar panels for re-use in Africa where they do not have reliable electricity supplies.

They will collect both polycrystalline and monocrystalline panels, 190 watts and above, in good condition.

To book a collection call 0485 878 488 or email enquiries@eaglesun.org

For more information visit Eagle Sun Enterprises

For disposal of old car tyres contact:

Tyrecycle, 8 Meyer Road, Lonsdale
1300 489 732

tyrecycle.com.au

Liquids cannot be placed into your bins. Very small amounts of used cooking oil can be mixed with organic material in the green organics FOGO bin. Vegetable and cooking oils need to be placed in containers and disposed of at a free hazardous waste depot. The nearest depot to Holdfast Bay is Adelaide Waste & Recycling Centre, 181 Morphett Road, North Plympton.

Large amounts of cooking oil can be taken to Adelaide and Statewide Tallow, 89 Wing Street, Wingfield.

X-rays can be dropped off at:

  • Jones Radiology, Tennyson Centre, 520 South Road, Kurralta Park
  • Ecocycle, 1A Portsmouth Court, Gillman. Phone 8262 4558. No fees apply.
  • Shred-X, unit 3, 2 Lafitte Road, Wingfield. Phone 1300 747 339. Fees apply.