Own a cream, lotion, potion, soap or shampoo you don’t like or have cosmetic empties? Here are some ways to reuse and recycle unwanted bathroom items:

Reuse:

• Unused, barely used cosmetics, soaps, lotions, perfumes – post on your local Buy Nothing Group for someone else to try.

Recycle:

• Blister packs (for medication) – Blooms Pharmacy, North Perth
• Blister packs (disposable contact lenses only) – Abernethy Owens, Floreat, Urban Revolution
• Cosmetic containers – Priceline pharmacies and select MYER stores accept a range of empty cosmetic containers for free, including glass bottles, pumps, caps and droppers, plastic tubes, bottles and containers, mascara tubes, wands and eyeliners, lip products, and palettes and compacts (including the mirrors).
• Disposable razors – Member and Participating Council residents can take to the West Metro Recycling Centre for free. Click here for what’s accepted.
• Medicines (expired) -old medicines can cause environmental damage if thrown in general waste. Instead, take your expired and unwanted medicines to your local pharmacy so that it can be safely disposed of via the RUM Project (Return Unwanted Medicines Project). Click here for accepted items. Sharps and vapes are NOT included in this project.
• Nail polish and remover – these items are flammable and classified as hazardous household waste. Please keep them out of your bins and take them to the West Metro Recycling Centre for safe disposal. Free drop off.
• Shampoo bottles and haircare products – Member and Participating Council residents can Take to the West Metro Recycling Centre for free. Click here for what’s accepted.
• Skincare packaging made from plastic and glass – Urban Revolution
• Toothbrushes and oral care products – Member and Participating Council residents can take to the West Metro Recycling Centre for free. Click here for what’s accepted.

Books, art and stationery supplies can’t be recycled in your yellow-lidded bin. But they can be reused in many ways.

Art & Educational Supplies

• Buy Nothing Facebook Groups
• REmida take all types of materials for reuse in school and community art projects, including CDs. Contact them to find out what projects they are working on and if your items will be suitable.admin@remidawa.com.
• Give Write collects and packages leftover, near new school stationery for disadvantaged children. Click here for accepted items. No lever arch files please.
• Local community groups, daycare centres, nursing homes for leftover stationery items.

Books:

• Buy Nothing Facebook Groups
• Charities like Paraquad Book Bazaar, Save the Children Book Bazaar
• Little Free Libraries – on the corners of suburban streets
• Secondhand bookstores like Pulp Fiction Book Exchange (Floreat),  Elizabeth’s Book Stores and many more.

Magazines:

• Buy Nothing Facebook Groups
• Waiting rooms – professional centres, businesses, nursing homes
• Preschools and daycares
• Craft projects – including gift wrap, decoupage, papercraft

Used Pens & Markers:

• Officeworks – recycle used pens and markers, no wooden writing equipment.

Renovating? Try these options before disposing of your construction and demolition waste

Reuse options:

• WA Brick Match has a recycling program to collect and reuse second-hand bricks, pavers and roof tiles. Minimum quantities and conditions apply. Click for more info. 
• Buy Nothing, Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree – post pictures of your unwanted building materials online and sell or give away your unwanted construction items.

Recycle options:

West Metro Recycling Centre – from $66 p/tonne, you can recycle your old asphalt, bricks, concrete, pavers, tiles, rubble and sand. Click here for details.

Taking a reusable coffee cup for your takeaway coffee is the best way to divert coffee cups from landfill.

Visit Plastic Free July for more great ways you can choose to refuse.

711 Store accepts disposal coffee cups, plastic lids, straws and slurpy cups in their #CupRescue recycling units.  All brands.  Cups are recycled into outdoor furniture, garden beds, reusable coffee cups and roads.

Keeping clothing in the circular economy is great for your pocket, the community and the planet.

Repair:

Love it but can’t sew? Take your treasured garment to your local Repair Lab / Repair Cafe and skilled volunteers can help. Or, take torn clothes to your local alterations store for repair.

Reuse:

High-end fashion (local)

• For money back on your fashion labels, consider consignment stores like The Secret Closet
• To support a cause with your fashion label donations, consider Magpie Conscious Collective, Dress for Success or Lemon Tree Pop-Up.
• Old ball-gowns / evening wear cluttering your closet? Donate them to Frock Up – the Dress Library at Town of Cambridge. This allows students (or you) to borrow quality gowns for special occasions for free. Call Cambridge Library on 9383 8999 or send an email enquiry.

Everyday clothing in good condition

• Donate to your local charity or op shop.
• Buy Nothing – join your local Buy Nothing Group on Facebook, post images of your clothing, and in the time it takes to scroll your feed, someone will be interested in your clothing.
• Wardrobe Refresh – declutter and update your wardrobe without spending a cent. Simply bring along what you don’t wear and take what you will. To help you make the  most of your wardrobe, WMRC Waste Watchers and Town of Cambridge hold seasonal Adult & Kids Wardrobe Refresh Days.  Subscribe to socials to find out when the next Wardrobe Refresh is on.
• Footy boots, sneakers and track shoes – Youth charity FairGame would love your gently worn footy boots. You can drop them off in our FairGame collection bin the next time you visit the West Metro Recycling Centre.
• West Metro Recycling Centre – has Good Sammy and Paraquad Industries charity bins onsite for your quality, clean, untorn clothing, shoes and bric-a-brac.

Recycle:

Clothing and textiles

• H&M – Beyond repair? Drop your bag of unwanted clothing in the recycling box at your local store. All textiles are welcome – any brand, any condition – even odd socks, worn-out T-shirts and old sheets. The textiles are then sent to the nearest recycling plant, where they’re sorted by hand. For every bag of textiles you drop off, you’ll receive a discount card for 15% off your next in-store purchase.
• Sheridan Recycling Program – accepting any brand. Recycling collection point located in all stores.
• Upparel – collecting worn out shoes, clothing and bed linen (no unwashed items, underwear, carpet, duvets /doonas, pillows/cushions, handbags, soft toys or wire bras).  For $25, you can fill a box containing 10kg of clothing and have it collected from your home. Find out more.

Shoes

• Sports stores like rebel sport collects old unusable sports shoes for TreadLightly an Australian-based company that recycles the extracted rubber, leather and fibres into new products like gym mats, floors and playgrounds.
• Upparel – collects worn out shoes, as well as clothing and bed linen (no unwashed items, underwear, carpet, duvets /doonas, pillows/cushions, handbags, soft toys or wire bras).  For $25, you can fill a box containing 10kg of clothing and have it collected from your home. Find out more.

If it still works, you can find a home for unwanted electronic items:

Repair:

• Local electrician
• Repair Cafe or Repair Lab

Reuse:

• Buy Nothing
• Facebook Marketplace
• Gumtree – free list it if you want to give it away
• Tools ‘n’ Things Library -add your electronic items to an inventory for people to borrow.
• Hello Initiative – For unused mobile phones. Find out more.
• Charities – LOVE kettles, heaters, fans, radios, electric frypans, toasters and extension cords – items they can re-sell or give to families experiencing hardship. Just make sure they are clean, in good working order and have bi-coloured pins. Click here to find a charity near you.

Recycle:

Broken / beyond repair? Electronic appliances, computers, TVs and associated cords and cables, including gaming devices and mobile phones, can be taken to the West Metro Recycling Centre. Free drop off for Member and Participating Council residents and a $25 entry fee for non-Member council residents.

Would you like to give your pre-loved item a second life?

If it’s clean, unbroken and in good condition, try:

• Posting it on your local Facebook Buy Nothing page, Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree
• Donating it to your local charity. If you have a single bed frame or clean single bed mattress  you no longer need, contact Starting Over Support. Free home collections. Conditions apply.
• Garage Sale Trail
• Swapmeets

Mattresses and ensemble bases can be recycled at the West Metro Recycling Centre from $40 p/mattress. Click here for full list of fees and charges. Alternatively, book a collection from mattress recycler Soft Landing  (prices start at $55) or check if it can be collected with your Verge Valet bulk waste collection.

Decluttering the shed?

While these items cannot go in any of your kerbside bins, many can be safely disposed of or recycled at the West Metro Recycling Centre:

• Bicycles – free drop off for Member & Participating Council residents
• Flares – FREE, up to 20KG
• Fuel – FREE, up to 20L
• Gas cylinders – FREE, up to 20KG
• Motor oil – up to 20L – free drop off for Member & Participating Council residents
• Paint – FREE, up to 20L
• Pesticides and pool chemicals – FREE, up to 20KG /L
• Plastic plant pots
• Pool chemicals – FREE, up to 20KG
• Tyres – prices start at $8.00 each

Recycling options for these items:

• Pool blankets – Town of Cambridge holds special collection days for pool blankets and some hard plastics. Click here for next drop off day. All welcome.
• Potting mix bags / compost bags (plastic, EMPTY) – take to REDcycle, located outside Coles and Woolworths supermarkets. Plastic bags must be rinsed and dry and no larger than A3 in size.
• Tools and camping equipment – Contact Tools n Things Library.  Browse the inventory to see what’s collected for loan.

Did you know that the West Metro Recycling Centre accepts the following kids’ items for recycling? Free drop off for Member Councils & Participating Councils:

• Bicycles – for youth charity Dismantle.
• Clothing – for Good Sammy and ParaQuad Industries. Quality, clean, untorn clothing, shoes and accessories (eg. belts) only. No soiled, torn or broken items.
• Sports equipment – for youth charity FairGame. Click here for what is and isn’t accepted.
• Sports shoes – for youth charity FairGame.  Click here for what is and isn’t accepted.
• Stationery (new/nearly new)- for youth charity GiveWrite. Click here for what is and isn’t accepted.  No lever arch files please.

Not good enough for reuse? These items can be recycled at special drop off points:

• Sport shoes (broken) – drop old sports shoes at a Treadlightly collection point (like your local Rebel store). Click here for what’s accepted.
• Stationery (broken, old, used) – Officeworks accepts old pens and textas. No crayons, wooden pencils or coloured pencils.
• Toys (broken) – Big W has partnered with Terracycle to recycle old, broken plastic toys through their Big W Toys for Joy recycling program.  Accepted items – Plastic, metal, plush and electronic toys (BATTERIES REMOVED PLEASE). Click here for what’s not accepted. 

Not suitable for donation?

• Bread Tags – Drop off at Urban Revolution for Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs.
• Food scraps – Your FOGO bin (if you have one). If not, try your compost bin / worm farm; or contact your local community garden, eg Earthwise in Subiaco or St Lukes in Mosman Park.
• Dish and air care waste –  take to Urban Revolution. Accepting dishwashing or air freshening products including bottles, aerosols, spray bottles, dishwasher tablet packaging, air fresheners & refills
• Soft plastics –REDcycle  will take your filmy food packaging, plastic bags, cling wrap, plastic reusable bags, pet food bags, squeezy yoghurt pouches and more. Collection bins located outside Coles & Woolworths stores.

Member and participating council residents can drop these items off for free at the West Metro Recycling Centre for specialist recycling:

• Appliances – broken
• Cooking oil (up to 20L)
• Dishwasher (broken)
• Electronic items
• Fire Fire-extinguisher – Non-halon (red) only
• Household chemicals and cleaners
• Metal kitchen utensils, pots and pans – broken
• Plastic bottle lids
• Stove / cooktop /microwave

Refrigerated items (eg air conditioners, fridges or freezers) are also accepted at the West Metro Recycling Centre. De-gassing fee from $15.

Avoid throwing textiles in your bin and reuse or recycle instead.

Try:

• Cutting sheets / towels into cleaning rags.
• Donating old sheets and towels to the local Cat Haven and Dog Refuge in Shenton Park. Or try Animal Aid. No doonas, cushions or pillows please.
• H&M – Drop your bag of unwanted clothing in the recycling box at your local store. All textiles are welcome – any brand, any condition. Find out more about their recycling process here and get 15% off your next in-store purchase for every bag of recycling you drop in-store.
• Sheridan Recycling Program – accepting any brand. Recycling collection point located in all stores.
• Upparel – collecting worn out shoes, clothing and bed linen (no unwashed items, underwear, carpet, duvets /doonas, pillows/cushions, handbags, soft toys or wire bras).  For $25, you can fill a box containing 10kg of clothing and have it collected from your home.

Have you tried to reuse your packing material like this:

Bubble wrap – reuse it to wrap delicates for postage or interlay between fragile items before stacking. Otherwise, REDcycle accepts bubble wrap that’s A3 in size. Take to your local collection point outside Coles or Woolworths

Cardboard – Before collapsing large cardboard boxes for recycling, offer them to your local Buy Nothing Community. Chances are, someone’s moving and could use them. Otherwise, Member and Participating Council residents can take their excess cardboard to the West Metro Recycling Centre for free.

Polystyrene – bought a new TV or computer? Keep bulk polystyrene out of general waste and take it to the West Metro Recycling Centre for recycling into new products. Free drop off for Member and Participating Council residents.

Shredded paper – no, you can’t put shredded paper in your recycling bin, BUT you can:

• add it to your compost or worm farm
• donate it to community gardens for their worm farms or compost bins
• use it as animal bedding for small pets, eg hamsters, guinea pigs or chickens
• line gift hampers
• use in place of bubble wrap to protect delicate items when moving
• MYO recycled paper
• create paper mache projects
• make weed mats
• make firebricks
• place around seedlings as protective mulch
• use it for quilling
• place in the bottom of your kitchen caddy to absorb odours and liquids.