Summerhill Community Recycling Centre

Community Recycling Centres are free of charge for all NSW residents.

Business-related and commercial quantities of chemicals are not accepted. Please enquire with a commercial service provider, such as Cleanaway, or visit Business Recycling for disposal options. Please note, fees may apply to use these services.

You can drop off these wastes, free of charge, at Community Recycling Centres across NSW:

• Paint
• Motor oils and cooking oils
• Gas bottles
• Fire extinguishers
• Car and household batteries
• Fluorescent light globes and tubes.
• Smoke detectors.

You can also drop off printer cartridges and X-rays at the Summerhill Community Recycling Centre.

Only household quantities (roughly up to 20 litres or 20 kilograms) of each waste type are accepted.

Only household quantities are accepted. As a guide, this is a maximum of 20 litres or 20 kilograms of each waste type.

If you have quantities greater than the general allowance (roughly 20 litres or 20 kilograms of each item), please enquire with a commercial service provider, such as Cleanaway, or visit Business Recycling for disposal options. Please note, fees may apply to use these services.

You can take a wide range of household chemicals—such as cleaning products, pool chemicals and garden pesticides—to a Household Chemical CleanOut.

CleanOut events are held at various locations, including Newcastle, on specified dates throughout the year for chemical products too complex or dangerous to be collected at Community Recycling Centres.

The Summerhill Community Recycling Centre is located within the Summerhill Waste Management Centre, at Summerhill Road (off Minmi Road), Wallsend.

It is open daily during normal opening hours.

Unless expressly stated otherwise, you can use any Community Recycling Centre across NSW, including Awaba (Lake Macquarie), Cessnock, Maitland, Salamander Bay (Port Stephens) and Singleton.

All NSW Community Recycling Centres can be viewed, by suburb, on the NSW EPA website.

Please handle and transport your problem wastes carefully.

• Never mix chemicals, as this may produce dangerous reactions.
• Wherever possible, keep all chemicals in their original containers.
• Ensure containers are clearly labelled and well-sealed.
• Liquid can leak during transport: wrap containers holding liquids securely in newspaper, place in sturdy plastic bags and then in plastic buckets or trays.
• Keep household chemicals away from passengers, for example, by placing them in the boot of your car.

All visitors to the Summerhill Community Recycling Centre must follow the standard on-site safety procedures, including wearing fully enclosed footwear (no sandals or thongs).

Paints are mixed with other waste solvents and used as an alternative to fuel in cement kilns. The metal containers are recycled.

Used oils are processed to become a lubricant or used for waste-to-energy.

Gas bottles have residual gas captured for reuse. Undamaged bottles are retested, restamped and entered into the hire industry. Damaged bottles are punctured and recycled as scrap metal.

Lead acid batteries are sent to recyclers where the lead, acid and plastic are recovered and recycled.

Fluorescent tubes and globes contain mercury. Recyclers crush the tubes to separate the phosphor powder from the glass. They feed the powder through receiving containers, where it is filtered to capture fugitive mercury emissions. The mercury is then separated by distillation and sold for a range of industrial uses. The metals are also recycled.

X-ray films are processed to extract the silver, which can then be reused for things such as silver solder, jewellery, the silver plating of utensils, electrical components and film manufacture.

Printer cartridges are made up of a complex mix of plastics, metal, inks and toners. The collected cartridges are returned for remanufacturing or recycling into new products, such as outdoor decking, fencing, garden beds, pens and ink.

For further information about Community Recycling Centres, and upcoming events in other local government areas, visit the NSW EPA website or call the Environment Line on 131 555.