Other household items that should be spared from the yellow bin can also be disposed of properly at w waste depot for free. 

Shoalhaven City Council’s resource recovery project coordinator Fiona Schreurs said “many, many household items” could be disposed of at Waste Transfer Stations across the City no cost. 

“Items that can be dropped off for free at the depot include polystyrene, paper, cardboard, motor oil, paints, batteries, fluorescent globes, gas bottles, and a range of items that can be resold, like furniture,” Ms Schreurs said. 

Electronic devices could also be dropped at the tip for free, but should be kept out of household recycling bins. 

Ms Schreurs said there was a risk of them catching fire in bins, trucks, or at the recycling centre.  

“Electronic waste has no charge, like computers, mobile phones, and keyboards; anything with a chord really. We don’t want those types of electronic items in the recycling bin because they can heat up and start a fire,” she said.

“We had that happen a couple of months ago at the recycling centre. It actually started smoking because a battery was degrading.” 

Pizza boxes and polystyrene should also be left out of the yellow bin. 

“We don’t want things like polystyrene, foam meat trays, pizza boxes, general waste, garden waste, nappies, or broken glass like windows or mirrors put in the recycling curbside bin,” Ms Schreurs said. 

”Plastic bags and soft plastics, which can be recycled, are a real no in the yellow bin. They actually get tangles in the recycling centre’s sorting machine and can jam it.” 

“They can be recycled, but not through the kerbside bin.”

Clean polystyrene can be accepted at the depot, where it is broken down and melted into bricks, which can be recycled and turned into new plastic products. 

“The machine decreases the volume [of the polystyrene] by about 90 per cent,” Ms Schreurs said. 

“It is a really difficult substance to manage because of its lightweight nature, and it becomes litter very easily in the wind. It is made of a petrochemical so we don’t want that sort of thing in our environment.” 

Items that incur a fee at the waste depot include mixed waste, mattresses, concrete and builders waste, garden waste, tyres, fridges and air conditioners. 

There were a “range” of price structures in place, Ms Schreurs said. 

“Mattresses do get recycled but the company charges us a fee and we pass that straight on,” she said. 

“Anything that has CFC gas in it is charged because we have to degas it. Concrete and mixed builders waste have a reduced fee, as does garden waste.”

“I would suggest there would be many, many items in a household that could be brought here at no charge.”

Green waste dropped at the tip is chopped up and put into windrows. Once it decomposes and turns to mulch, people and freely come and collect however much they need for their garden. 

“It doesn’t become a soil conditioner or a compost material, but it does turn into a mulch-type product, which is available to residents at no charge,” Ms Schreurs said. 

“You can bring your trailer or ute and grab some for your garden.”

At the moment, anything put into household red bins goes to landfill.