The unexpected items you can drop off at Recycle It Saturday

Our next Recycle It Saturday drop-off event is 23 May and is open to City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra residents. Here are some unexpected items we accept.

Can't make it? City of Sydney residents can also recycle these items through our Ultimo recycling pop-up or doorstep recycling service.

Metal sports medals

Whether you have a collection of childhood medals or started participating in marathons, you can bring the mementos to us for 10s across the board. Don’t forget to cut your medal from the lanyard as the ribbon goes to textiles recycling and your decoration to metal recycling – we’ll call this a double win.

We’ll send the medals to a local recycling facility where they’ll be sorted into categories like steel, copper, aluminium, lead, silver and gold. Afterwards, they’ll be shredded and mixed with other materials to create something new. You’ll reduce the impact of mining for new resources and give your greatest achievements a second life.

Wire coat hangers and golf clubs

Do you have rusty golf clubs that have scored better days or wire hangers that don’t match the aesthetic of your wardrobe? We’ll gladly take them off your hands. Pop them together in a box so it’s easy for us to remove at the metals station.

Your items must weigh less than 10kg and be made mostly of metal to be sorted into categories like steel, copper, aluminium, lead, silver and gold.

Fabric and sewing offcuts

We love a DIY project but we love your offcuts and sewing scraps even more. If you can’t reuse old materials in a future project, bring them to us for recycling. They should be washed, dry and free of mould and chemicals.

If you have other unusable clothes or textiles at home, we’ll take those too. Old towels, rags, linen and more – see our full list of accepted items.

Old couch cushions and pillows

Don’t wait for spring to clean out your linen closet. If they can’t be reused, drop them off for recycling.

Same goes for larger couch cushions. Dispose of them responsibly at Recycle It Saturday before putting the couch base out for a bulky collection.

CD, DVD and VHS collections

CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes fall under electronics, so you can drop them off at Recycle It Saturday. We’ll help recycle the discs, tapes and their plastic cases.

Around 95% of the materials in electronics can be recycled. Electronics are broken into metals, plastics, batteries, cabling and circuit boards. These parts can then be used to make new products, reducing the need to mine raw materials. For example, the plastic in many electronics can be turned into shipping pallets or outdoor furniture.