Hazardous waste

Asbestos fibres are hazardous when inhaled. They can be released into the air when asbestos products are incorrectly handled, stored or transported for disposal.

Before renovating or doing maintenance work on your home, you need to confirm if it possibly contains asbestos. If your home was built or renovated before 1987, it is likely that it will. If so, you need to know how to remove and dispose of the asbestos safely.

If more than 10 square metres of bonded asbestos needs to be removed, you must engage a bonded asbestos removalist who is licensed by SafeWork NSW. If you are removing asbestos, advise your neighbours of the time and date of removal, and the name of the licensed removalist.

If loads are identified as containing, or are reasonably suspected of containing asbestos waste, are not declared on entry or prior to arrival, our staff will treat the entire load as asbestos waste. Where non-declared asbestos waste occurs, details will be forwarded to NSW EPA and SafeWork for investigation.

Asbestos Disposal

Asbestos is classified as a hazardous material. There are strict guidelines about how it should be packaged, labelled, transported and where it can be disposed. The Albury Waste Management Centre (AWMC) can lawfully receive asbestos waste in the designated area.

• Ensure asbestos waste has been wetted, double wrapped in 200 micron thick plastic, and sealed with tape before it is transported to a landfill site that may lawfully receive the waste.

For more information read:

Disposing of household Asbestos & Legal Requirements

Safely disposing of Asbestos Waste

To minimise the risk of asbestos exposure, WorkCover recommends that householders engage a licensed asbestos removalist contractor if asbestos must be disturbed or removed. Do-it-yourself asbestos removal is not recommended.

The following guide provides useful information to enable householders to safely manage the risks arising from asbestos materials in and around their homes.

A guide for householders and the general public.

Used syringes pose a health risk to the community and so safe disposal bins must be provided and used. Needle and syringe disposal bins can be found in hospital grounds, council amenity buildings, parks and reserves. Medical sharps can also be taken to participating pharmacies and public hospitals in a puncture-resistant container such as a coffee or paint tin.

People working with sharps should ensure they’re stored correctly to there’s no risk of harm to anyone who comes into contact with them.

Here are some basic guidelines:

• Store sharps in a puncture-proof container (a yellow sharps container)
• Store containers in a safe place that can’t be accessed by children
• Do not recap needles before placing them in the container
• Seal the container lid when full

How do I dispose of Clinical and related waste?

Medical waste containers can be brought into the pharmacies listed below for disposal free of charge. Alternatively you can visit safesharps.org.au, which gives a comprehensive list of all stores or locations in NSW where sharps can be disposed of safely.

Terry White Chemist
Centro Lavington
Griffith Road
Lavington 2641
Phone: 02 6025 4733

Fifield's Pharmacy
Cnr Dean & Townsend Streets
Albury 2640
Phone: 02 6021 3255

Terry White Chemist
543 Dean Street
Albury 2640
Phone: 02 6021 2714

Mayo's Northend Pharmacy
3/330 Urana Road
Lavington 2641
Phone: 02 6040 2204

Soul Pattinson Chemist
Thurgoona Plaza
Shuter Avenue
Thurgoona  2640
Phone: 02 6043 1444

Chemist Warehouse
483 Olive Street
Albury 2640
Phone: 02 6022 4088

Chemist Warehouse
Shops 3-5, 338 Kaitlers Road
Springdale Heights 2641
Phone: 02 6025 3007

Leftover paint is one of the most common sources of liquid waste in landfills but we can dispose of old paint in a safe and practical way – and disposal is free.

Australians buy more than 100 million litres of paint a year. About five million litres ends up in landfill, along with the packaging and materials that go with it.

Leftover paint can contaminate groundwater and should not be put into garbage bins.

However, if you deliver unwanted paint to the Albury Recycling Centre, it will be mixed with other waste solvents and used as an alternative fuel in cement kilns. The metal containers are also recycled.

Remember, you should never mix your paint with other chemicals, and if possible you should keep your paint in its original containers.

We have partnered with Paintback, which collects the paint and packaging from the Albury Recycling Centre and transports it for treatment. The packaging and waste liquid are separated. Waste paint is treated in a number of ways including energy recovery for solvent and liquid/solid separation for water-based paint, significantly minimising pressures on our landfill.

Household users and trade painters can drop off the following items for free:

• Interior and exterior architectural paint
• Deck coatings and floor paints
• Primers, undercoats and sealers
• Stains and shellacs
• Varnishes and urethanes (single component)
• Wood coatings
• Packaging

Used motor and cooking oil can be recycled, so rather than risk contamination or a spill at your place, bring it to us and we'll have it cleaned and put to good use.

Each year, Australians buy more than 500 million litres of motor oil. Just one litre of motor oil is enough to contaminate one million litres of water, and a single oil change in your car produces four to five litres of oil waste.

Used motor oil picks up toxic chemicals when used in engines and transmissions and is hazardous to the environment.

Sump oil - which includes engine oil, two-stroke, diesel oil and lubricating oils along with cooking oil - can be dropped off for free at the Albury Recycling Centre.

Fortunately, used motor oil can be recycled because instead of wearing out, it just gets dirty. The contaminants can be removed and the oil recycled time after time.

Some uses of recycled oil are industrial burner fuel, re-refined lube oil, or it can be used in other products as an additive.

If you have small quantities (20 litres maximum) of old motor oils or unused/used cooking oil make sure it is in a secure oil container and bring it to the Albury Recycling Centre.

Households are not charged for oil disposal but a fee applies for commercial operators.

Here are some useful tips for recycling oils:

• Dispose of old oils straight away otherwise you risk it entering the soil and contaminating ground water if it spills or leaks
• Do not mix oils with other chemicals as contamination may cause the oil to be unrecyclable. Keep liquids in original containers

Ensure all containers are sealed and have clearly identifiable labels.

Batteries are the most common form of hazardous waste disposed of by Australian households, but the good news is that they can be recycled into a range of new products such as street lights and car parts.

In Australia, about 350 million batteries are purchased every year. More than two thirds of them end up in landfill, where they can cause health and environmental problems.

Heavy metals in batteries include cadmium, nickel, lead and mercury, which are all toxic and dangerous to human, animal and environmental health if not managed properly. Batteries in landfill damage the environment because, once their casings disintegrate, metals and chemicals inside the battery leach out.

You can prevent this type of environmental damage by dropping your vehicle and household batteries at the Albury Recycling Centre for free. Once we’ve received them they can be made into new products such as street lights and car parts.

Some of the new uses for your old batteries include:

• Recycling nickel to produce stainless steel
• Recycling acid to form sodium sulphate, which is used to make detergents, glass and textiles
• The production of new batteries, fertilisers, waste bins and plant pots.

Because they contain mercury, fluorescent lamps are damaging if they end up in landfill - so let us take care of them for you.

While the risk of mercury poisoning from broken lights is low, 95% of mercury contained in waste lights in Australia end up in landfills which poses a significant environmental concern.

Over time, mercury converts to methylmercury, a toxic chemical that spreads into the environment through the air, water and soil.

The mercury from one fluorescent tube is enough to pollute 30,000 litres of water. But to eliminate the risk, fluorescent lights can be safely collected and recycled, creating positive uses for potentially dangerous products.

You can dispose of your waste lights for free by separating them and placing them in the correct receptacles at the Albury Recycling Centre.

The following can be recycled:

• Compact fluorescent lamps
• Fluorescent U-tubes
• Linear fluorescent lamps
• Mercury vapour lamps
• Metal halide lamps
• Sodium vapour lamps
• UV lamps
• LED tubes

Gas bottles that can no longer be refilled can be recycled for scrap metal

Gas bottles that are unfit for reuse can be recycled. High pressure gas bottles pose a significant safety hazard if compacted in landfill.

You can recycle your unwanted gas bottle for free at the Albury Recycling Centre.

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.

Please do NOT put gas bottles into your kerbside bins as they pose a significant safety hazard if compacted in landfill.

Fire extinguishers are made from steel that can be fully recycled, while smoke detectors contain batteries and harmful materials. As long as they’re not generated by business or commercial use, you can dispose of them at the Albury Recycling Centre for no charge.

Like gas bottles, fire extinguishers are made from steel which is 100% recyclable, and can be recycled for scrap metal.

Smoke Detectors can contain batteries and in some cases harmful content that could react if it comes into contact with other materials.

To dispose of these items correctly, simple place them in marked container at the recycling centre.