Port Stephens Council unlocking new circular economy, reducing waste and extending the life of unwanted household items.

Have you ever wondered what happens to the items you drop off at Council’s problem waste drop off days?

Our drop off days all play a part in creating a circular economy – where reusing and recycling helps to reduce landfill, and increases efficient use of natural resources, such as energy, water and materials! (Source: CSIRO)

In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste – the process is linear.

In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop things going to landfill. Here are some of the things we’ve given new life to:

In the last 12 months, Port Stephens Council diverted 1423 mattresses from entering landfill, which we went on to recycle in the following ways:

In order to achieve this, we partnered with Soft Landing Mattress Recycling, a social enterprise creating stable and meaningful jobs for people experiencing barriers to employment.

In the last 12 months, Port Stephens Council collected over 10 tonnes of tyres (that’s almost 2097 tyres!), which we went on to reuse in the following ways:

Did you know 90 to 95 % of electronic waste components can be recycled?

In the last 12 months, Port Stephens Council collected almost 5 tonnes of e-waste, which we diverted from landfill and went on to recycle in the following ways:

We collected 8.383t of unwanted chemical to be recycled and disposed of correctly.