In brief:

• Many household items cannot go in your kerbside bins.
• There are ways to dispose of these free of charge – even if they are large.
• This article outlines how you can do this.

Do you have old household items sitting around that can’t go in your kerbside bins?

You may not know of the free services you can take advantage of, to declutter your home and save money in the process.

Free drop-off at resource management centres

If you’d rather get rid of things yourself, you may be able to drop them to a resource management centre for free.

Canberra has two resource management centres:

• Mitchell Resource Management Centre on Flemington Road, Mitchell
• Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre on Mugga Lane, Symonston.

Both locations are open 7:30am– 5:00pm, seven days a week. They are closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day.

When dropping your items at the resource management centres, please ensure they are sorted and clearly identifiable.

There will be a charge for mixed loads which are not easily visible.

Batteries and items with built-in batteries

Plenty of household items cannot go in kerbside bins. Batteries, for example, are classed as hazardous waste and can cause fires if disposed of incorrectly.

There are many options to dispose of them.

You can take your batteries and devices with built-in batteries – including damaged or fire affected batteries – to the hazardous waste collection area at either the Mugga Lane or Mitchell resource management centres.

There are also over 80 B-cycle drop off points for household batteries located around Canberra.

Find out more about where to drop off batteries.

Other hazardous waste

You can also drop off small amounts of other hazardous waste for free. Look out for the hazardous waste collection area at either Mugga Lane or Mitchell resource management centres.

You can dispose of:

• liquid hazardous waste, such as aerosol cans (full), caustic materials, household cleaning agents, cooking oils, household pesticides, photographic chemicals, domestic poisons, domestic pool chemicals
• helium party balloon cylinders
• fire extinguishers
• gas bottles
• paint (see the paintback website for more information)
• fluorescent tubes (including compact fluorescent tubes and bulbs)
• automotive fuels.

Find out more about accepted items and limits for hazardous waste.

Electronic waste (e-waste)

You can dispose of e-waste, such as computers and laptops, televisions, tablets, mobile phones, printers and gaming consoles, at either Mugga Lane or Mitchell resource management centres.

There is a limit of 15 items per person (a keyboard, mouse and monitor equals one item).

You can also dispose of electrical appliances such as kettles, microwaves, toasters, hairdryers, coffee machines, irons and fans for free if they are at least 80% metal.

White goods

You don’t need to pay to take white goods to either Mugga Lane or Mitchell resource management centres. White goods include items such as fridges, freezers, clothes dryers, washing machines, dishwashers and ovens.

Green garden waste

Green garden waste bin overloaded? Excess residential green waste can be dropped off for free at Corkhill Bros (Mugga Lane only) or at the West Belconnen Green Waste Facility on Parkwood Road.

Fees apply to oversized residential and commercial green organic waste. Find out more about your green waste disposal options.

Household recycling

Household recycling can be dropped off for free at the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre or one of the five recycling drop off centres located at Mitchell, Gungahlin, Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong. You can take:

• paper
• cardboard
• glass bottles and jars
• aluminium and steel cans
• plastic bottles and containers.

Corflute signs

Corflute signs are accepted for free at the corflute collection bins at Mitchell and Mugga Lane resource management centres.

Please remove any paper, glue, plastic ties, stakes and metal from the signs.

Find out more about what is accepted at the resource management centres, and how much you can dispose of.

Give your items a new life

Remember, if your items can be reused, you may be able to drop them off for free at Goodies Junction – located at both Mitchell and Mugga Lane resource management centres.

Find out what can be donated to Goodies Junction.

Still unsure about something? Check out ACT City Services’ A-Z guide to waste and recycling to see what can go where.

Read more like this

• Your guide to thrifting in Canberra
• Your recycling questions answered
• New recycling facility a step closer

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