Problem Household Waste
Find free, appropriate disposal solutions for a variety of common household items that should not go in any kerbside bin.
Community Recycling Stations
Community Recycling Stations
accept common household problem wastes that cannot go into kerbside bins, including household batteries, ink cartridges, mobile phones, eye glasses, smoke detectors and x-rays. These stations are located at:
- Council Customer Service Centre, 40 Cherry Street, Ballina
- Ballina Library, 6 River Street, Ballina
- Salvage Shed Tip Shop, 167 Southern Cross Drive, Ballina
- Lennox Head Cultural Centre, Mackney Lane, Lennox Head
- Alstonville Cultural Centre, 42-46 Commercial Road, Alstonville
For further information download the Community Recycling Station brochure(PDF, 763KB)
Mobile phones and accessories
Mobile Phones and Accessories
can also be dropped off at:
- Ballina's Telstra Store
- Ballina's Optus World
- or find your nearest Mobile Muster drop off location
Electronic Waste (e-waste)
E-Waste
can be dropped off free at the Resource Recovery Centre. Accepted materials are:
- all electrical cords, cables, chargers
- all household appliances
- all televisions, such as CRTs, plasma, LCD and projection
- laptops, notebooks, palmtops and tablets
- computer monitors
- parts for personal computers - eg internal hard drives, motherboards, cards, internal power supplies, CPUs, DVD and CD drives
- computer peripherals - eg mice, keyboards, joysticks, game pads, scanners and web cameras
- printers - eg home office ink-jet, dot matrix, laser printers and multi-functional devices
- stereo and sound equipment
Return unwanted medicines
Return Unwanted Medicines
Stockpiling old medicines at home can be risky, not just for you but also for your family and pets. It is important to dispose of old and unwanted medicines safely. Do not place them in landfill bins or flush them down the toilet, as they may become accessible to the community and can harm plant, marine and animal life.
Unwanted medicines can be handed in to most pharmacies. Pharmacy staff put the medicines in special bins which are then transported to specialist incineration sites where they cannot harm fauna or waterways.
Empty medicine bottles (glass or plastic) can be recycled in the yellow recycling bin.
Empty blister packs are recycled by Pharmacycle. Our current drop off location is:
- Blooms The Chemist, Ballina Fair, Ballina
Find out more by talking to your local pharmacy or visit returnmed.com.au
Soft plastics and plastic bags
Plastic Bags and soft plastics should be avoided if possible as they take thousands of years to break down in landfill.
Soft plastics can be reduced by choosing loose produce and products with recyclable packaging, using reusable produce and shopping bags, and shopping at farmers markets and bulk food stores. The REDcycle soft plastics recycling supermarket program is currently on hold. This section will be updated when a new program is implemented.