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Medicines and pharmaceuticals, including tablets, should be returned to a pharmacy or chemist where they can be disposed of safely.
The blister packs that most tablets come in are unable to be recycled and should be placed in your red-lidded refuse bin.
Tea bags can be added to a worm farm or compost bin, or alternatively, bagged and placed into your red-lidded refuse bin. Coffee grounds can also be treated in this way.
Televisions are classed as electronic waste (E Waste). Televisions classed as E-Waste materials listed below can be taken to the Ayr, Home Hill and Giru Waste Transfer Stations and Kirknie Landfill free of charge. Many of these materials contain metals and components which are not suitable to place into landfill. Recycling the materials will prevent the contaminants going to landfill.
E-Waste accepted includes:
Televsions
- Plasma televisions
- Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) televisions
- Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) televisions
- Rear Projection televisions
For more information of what is classed as E-Waste visit the A-Z of Waste E-Waste page.
Textiles and clothing that are clean, stain free and in generally good condition can be taken to charity clothing bins and stores.
Textiles in poor condition may still be accepted at some charities as they repurpose them and resell as ‘rags’.
Textiles in poor condition can still be diverted from landfill. You can reuse the item as a rag in your house to clean or mop things with.
Once the above options are exhausted the textiles and clothing may be thrown into your red-lidded refuse bin.
Textiles should not be placed in your yellow-lidded recycle bin and lime-lidded green waste bin as it cause contamination of the load.
Building timber cannot be recycled.
Quantities of less than half a ute load or small trailer load
Quantities of less than half a ute load or small trailer load can be taken to Council's Ayr, Home Hill or Giru Transfer Station.
Domestic quantities are free of charge if sorted. Fees apply to disposal of commercial waste.
Quantities of more than half a ute load or small trailer load
Waste loads over the above size must be disposed of at Council's Kirknie Landfill
Domestic quantities of less than a ute load or trailer load are accepted free of charge if sorted.
Fees apply to domestic quanities of more than a ute load or trailer load and all quantities of commercial waste.
Tissue boxes
Tissue boxes which are made from cardboard can be recycled in your yellow-lidded recycle bin.
Tissue
Tissues (used as well as clean) CANNOT be recycled in your yellow-lidded recycle bin. Tissues, kitchen paper and serviettes can be composted in a compost bin or worm farm, otherwise they should be bagged and placed into your red-lidded refuse bin.
The paper fibre within tissues, including toilet tissue, tissue paper, paper towels and serviettes is too weak to be recycled. This is what makes them soft and this is why the paper has reached the end of its recyclable life.
Australians send 34 printer cartridges to landfill every minute. We are urging Australians to deprive their garbage bins of electronic waste.
Printer cartridges are made up of a complex mix of plastics, metal, inks and toners and thus represent a significant investment in resources. When they are disposed of into landfill these resources are lost. That is why Planet Ark joined with Close the Loop and the participating manufacturers to set up the innovative Cartrides 4 Planet Ark program.
This program collects and returns cartridges for remanufacturing and recycling - therefore keeping them out of landfill. Planet Ark is successfully working with Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Konica Minolta and Kyocera to collectively take responsibility for the end life of their products. This voluntary Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program is one of the most successful of its type in the world. Help us save energy, water and resources by recycling your cartridges.
Printer and toner collection boxes are located at Council's Ayr and Home Hill Waste Transfer Stations and Council's Customer Service Centre.
Australia Post and Harvey Norman also accept printer cartridges as they are registered collection locations.
For more information visit:
Cartridges 4 Planet Ark https://planetark.org/campaigns/cartridges.cfm
Close the Loop https://www.closetheloop.com.au/
Tree prunings, small branches, leaves and palm fronds from the garden can be placed into your green waste bin (lime green lid). Organics and garden waste should never go into the yellow-lidded recycle bin.
Large amounts of both domestic and commercial green waste (including large logs and tree stumps) can be taken to Council's Ayr, Home Hill and Giru Waste Transfer Station or Kirknie Landfill free of charge.
Recovered garden waste is processed into mulch which Burdekin residents can collect free of charge from Council's Transfer Stations. Mulch needs to be loaded by the person taking it, as Council does not provide a loader on site. If you require a large amount of mulch you can arrange to bring a loader on site providing the operator has all the relevant tickets and public liability insurance. Please contact Council's Waste Services Team on (07) 4783 9800 if you require large quantities of mulch.
Toys in good condition can be taken to Council's Ayr, Home Hill and Giru Waste Transfer Stations free of charge as they can be resold in our second hand shops.
Alternatly you can take them to a charity organisation.
Old, broken toys should go into your red-lidded refuse bin.
Toys should never be placed in your yellow-lidded recycle bin as they can not be recycled and are contaminating the load.
Tyres can be taken to Council's Ayr, Home Hill and Giru Transfer Station and Kirknie Landfill.
Fees apply depending on the type and size of tyre. The disposal fee is contributed towards the cost of recycling the tyres.
Council is a member of Tyre Stewardship Australia and is commited to engaging accredited tyre recyclers to dispose of all tyres that are received at our waste management facilities.
Once processed the recycled material is utilised in:
- Playground and sporting surfaces
- Building insultation and tile adhesives
- Road construction
- Fuel for energy recovery
- New tyre manufacturing and brake pads
- Non-slip surfaces
Tyre recycling not only reduces the number of tyres sent to landfill but assists in creating a cleaner, healthier environment
Currently, thousands of tonnes of scrap tyres are illegally dumped every year and not only cost millions of dollars annually but also produce severe health hazards and environmental damage. The impact of dumped tyres include
- Dengue Fever - Even the smallest number of dumped tyres can create a dangerous breeding ground for mosquitoes that transport disease, such as Dengue Fever and the Ross River Virus.
- Tyre fires - Tyres are combustible. Once ignited, they are difficult to extinguish — producing chemical toxins that affect humans, flora, fauna, waterways and the atmosphere.
- Toxic tyres - Whether they are dumped, burnt or landfilled; every tyre that isn’t properly recycled leaches significant toxics and hazardous compounds into our environment.
Tyre recycling not only reduces the number of tyres sent to landfill but assists in creating a cleaner, healthier environment
For more information about Tyre Stewardship Australia and our commitment, visit www.tyrestewardship.org.au/.