The Secret Journey Of Junk

By Elsa Evers on February 15, 2016 in

Photo: Al Capone

You survived Christmas, politely thanked your grandma for her present – the same thing she’s bought you for the last three years – and now you’re surrounded by more junk you don’t need. It’s a new year and time for a spring clean. But have you ever wondered where your rubbish ends up after the hi-vis recycling lads take it away?

These days, recycling is big business. Your beloved old Nokia brick is worth a lot more if it’s melted down for parts than if you tossed it in the red bin, which lands it in landfill. So what happens to it and how do you make sure it gets a good reincarnation? Simply follow this guide…

Mobile Phones Become Batteries
Drop your mobile phones, ‘vintage’ laptops and televisions off at the Waverley Council E-waste Collection in May. Laptops and TVs are melted down into their valuable parts and a program backed by Aussie mobile companies – Mobile Muster – turns your old mobile into new batteries.

Batteries To Bubbles
A whopping 8000 tonnes of household batteries end up in Australian landfills each year and these batteries leach nasty chemicals into the environment. Drop retired batteries off at an e-waste collection or the Waverley Council Customer Service Centre instead. The metal will be used in new batteries. The leftover acid can be converted to sodium sulfate and used in laundry detergent. Bubbles!

Pots From Butts
If you’re one of the few smokers left in this health-obsessed, body-worshipping neighbourhood, next time you’re enjoying the Bondi view, look for newly installed cigarette recycling bins along the beach promenade. A company called TerraCycle will transform the butts into pot plants, watering cans, and even park benches. Don’t get busted smoking on the beach though. Smoking is banned on the sand, not least because the stubbed ciggies get washed out to sea. Yuck!

Punching Bags From Mattresses
Given the number of gyms and boot camps in our neighbourhood, Bondi is home to its fair share of boxing bags. Thanks to an initiative called Soft Landing, it’s possible those boxing bags were actually mattresses in a past life. Soft Landing works in partnership with Waverley Council to collect mattresses and salvage the metal, foam and timber to recycle into new stuff such as carpet underlay and boxing bags. The program creates jobs for those doing it tough and diverts thousands of tonnes of waste from landfill each year. Continue to punch with pride, friends.

Your Daily Discards
The most common things we recycle are being put to good use too. In fact, you probably already have a few toys made from your trash. Is your bike made from old baked bean tins, for example? Or is your car made from old beer cans? Plastics can be recycled into wheelie bins and, believe it or not, fleece jumpers. Basically everything except the waste thrown in the red bin receives a fabulous second life.

So don’t give your junk a landfill funeral. Sort it out. For more info, check out www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/environment/waste_and_recycling.