Plastic recycling at the West Metro Recycling Centre

From June 2025, some plastic household items can be recycled for free at the West Metro Recycling Centre.

Old, broken lunch boxes, cracked buckets, and damaged chopping boards are just some of the plastic items in our homes that would usually be destined for landfill. Thanks to CLAW Environmental, we can now accept these at the West Metro Recycling Centre.

CLAW will shred and pelletise these items at their facility in Welshpool. They can then be made into new things like bins, crates, and reticulation parts by local manufacturers.

What’s accepted:

Look for plastic that is slightly bendable but not soft enough to be scrunched up.

What’s not accepted:

  • Rigid, inflexible plastics (eg. CD cases)
  • Mixed plastics (eg. toys)
  • Plastic bags and film
  • Disposable plastic packaging (eg. shampoo bottles, yoghurt tubs) – these go in your yellow-lidded recycling bin
  • Silicone
  • Rubber

Contaminated plastics cannot be recycled. If in doubt, please call the Recycling Hotline on 9384 6711 or ask a staff member on site.

This service is for households only – we do not accept commercial quantities of plastic items. Businesses should contact CLAW Environmental directly.

Plastic alternatives:

While it’s great to recycle these plastics, it’s even better to avoid them altogether. Once you’ve dropped off your old, broken plastic items, why not upgrade to more sustainable alternatives such as stainless steel or bamboo?

Here are some plastic alternatives that are affordable and easy to find.

Plastic item Alternative
Food containers / lunch boxes Glass or stainless steel containers
Chopping boards Bamboo chopping boards
Storage tubs Wicker baskets; bamboo or fabric boxes
Laundry baskets Wicker or fabric baskets

Other plastic collections:

We also collect the following items at separate collection stations:

Please ensure you are separating these items and putting them in the right place. If you’re not sure, ask a staff member so we can be sure to avoid creating contaminated waste streams.