Central Coast Council is making it even easier for residents to correctly dispose of household batteries, light globes and mobile phones with 13 new ‘Problem Waste Units’ across the region.

The new units at Council’s Gosford and Wyong administration centres and library branches help to provide safe and convenient drop off points for the recycling of these common household items.

Council Acting Senior Manager Business and Economic Development, Andrew Pearce, said the new units will improve upon the existing free disposal options already offered.

“We already had recycling options available in our offices and libraries for these items, but this is the first time you will be able to drop off batteries, light globes and mobile phones at all locations,” Mr Pearce said.

“A recent report from the CSIRO found Australian’s only recycle two per cent of lithium-ion batteries purchased with 3,300 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries landfilled annually. 

“We are really hoping these new units will encourage more people to take up the opportunity to responsibly dispose of these problem wastes to be recycled.

“After items are dropped off they are transported to a specialised facility to recover materials for reuse, with any materials from the batteries and phones that cannot be recovered disposed safely into approved landfill sites.

Mayor Jane Smith said Council was committed to ensuring the Central Coast reuses and recycles as much as possible and this initiative was designed to make it easier for residents to responsibly dispose of these common and problem household wastes.  

“Most of us use batteries and light globes and have mobile phones lying around the house but what is not as well known is that they contain valuable elements that can actually be recycled,” Mayor Smith said.

“Too often they are placed in the bin or left lying around the house because we don’t know what to do with them.

“Batteries, light globes and mobiles phones each contain toxic chemicals, so if disposed of incorrectly, can cause possible pollution, contaminate our landfills and pose significant fire and explosion risk.
                                         
“Keeping small batteries around the home can be equally hazardous, especially for households with young children.

“So we are making it as easy as we can for our community to put these items to better use by making these units available at our libraries and offices – I encourage everyone to take advantage of this free service and keep both their households and the environment safe.”

Both older model mobiles, smart phones and their accessories are accepted – MP3 players and tablets cannot be placed in the units, though can be disposed of through the free e-waste recycling service at Council’s three Waste Management Facilities.

Fluorescent tubes are not accepted through this program, however, can be dropped off free of charge at Council’s Wyong Civic Centre as well as Woy Woy and Kincumber Waste Management Facilities. Any light globes or fluorescent tubes must be in-tact at time of disposal.

This project is a NSW Environment Protection Authority Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy.