Electronic waste recycling in Geelong

We collect e-waste at our Drysdale and Geelong Resource Recovery Centres and send it for processing right here in Victoria. 

What is e-waste?

E-waste is any item with a battery or a cord. Some types of e-waste, such as kettles and fridges, have been everyday items in our homes for decades, while others, like smart phones and wireless speakers, are relatively new. The digitisation of our society means e-waste is growing three times faster than any other waste stream.

In Victoria it is illegal to dispose of any type of e-waste in landfill. One of the main reasons behind this is it contains toxic metals such as mercury and lead. However, e-waste also contains widely used metals like copper and iron, as well as precious metals like gold, silver and platinum. Traditionally, these metals have been mined from ore in the ground, resulting in extensive environmental damage. Through recycling e-waste, in a process known as urban mining, metals in e-waste can be recovered, reducing the demand for traditional mining.

Did you know?
The precious metals mined from e-waste occur at much higher concentrations than occur naturally. For example, mining one tonne of recycled mobile phones can yield the equivalent amount of gold to mining 100 tonnes of gold ore from the Earth.

Geelong's e-waste

Our residents are passionate recyclers of e-waste. Approximately 10-15 tonnes of e-waste is sent from Geelong's resource centres and hard waste collection each week.

This makes Greater Geelong one of the biggest recyclers of e-waste in Australia - something to be proud of! By dropping off e-waste for proper recycling, we are keeping precious metals out of landfill and making a positive contribution to the circular economy.

E-waste collected in Geelong is transported to the south-eastern suburb of Dandenong, where one of Australia’s largest and most advanced e-waste processing facilities, Sircel, is located.

What happens to e-waste at Sircel?

E-waste is dismantled by hand into metals, plastics and glass

E-waste is difficult and expensive to recycle because all the components need to be separated by hand or machine – imagine taking your washing machine or laptop apart and sorting the parts by their materials. This is complicated by the huge variety in designs and materials used to make electronics. 

To begin with, highly trained manual workers dismantle electronics into different components. One of the most important tasks they have is removing batteries. While often found inside e-waste, batteries are classified as hazardous waste and require a different recycling stream. 

E-waste is shredded so it can be sorted further

Two processing lines are then used to shred and sort a large part of the e-waste. In the primary processing line the e-waste is shredded and a magnet used to separate ferrous metals. Large pieces such as motors and circuit boards are collected manually.

The remaining material is then fed into a secondary processing line, where it is shredded again to help separate any materials that are still stuck together. This is then separated further using a second magnet to collect any ferrous metals, and an eddy current to separate non-ferrous metals.

Plastics are sorted by optical machines

One of the challenges in recycling e-waste is the many different plastic types that manufacturers use to make electrical and battery-operated products. There are also very few onshore plastic recycling solutions in Australia.

Sircel has an optical sorting machine that sorts the plastics into their different categories by colour, using high-speed camera technology and compressed air. Some of the plastics are sent to a facility in Reservoir, where it can be made into such things as fence posts.

Recycling flat screen TVs in one machine

Flat panel displays contain the hazardous substance of mercury, one of the reasons why they’re difficult and expensive to recycle

Sircel is also the only e-waste recycling facility in Australia to operate BluBox, a closed recycling system which operates under negative pressure. This means it can be used to safely extract mercury vapour from items such as flat screen TVs. The machine also separates the remaining components into the different waste streams of plastic, glass and other precious metals.

This means that the recycling of flat screens (and mercury containing lamps) is much safer for our health and our environment.

Lastly, separated elements are transported to re-enter supply chains both local and overseas.

How can I recycle my e-waste in Geelong?

Did you know?
Always remove batteries from electronics before you drop them off for recycling. You should also leave the battery cover off if it has one, so that workers can see they've already been emptied.

Your e-waste can be dropped off for free at:

If you can, remove batteries first and place in a dedicated battery recycling stream. 

Small e-waste items can be dropped off for free at the Wurriki Nyal Civic Precinct recycling station

Computer related e-waste can be dropped off for free at participating Officeworks stores.

Don't forget, hard waste can be e-waste! If your e-waste is too big to transport, such as an old-style television, you can book a free hard waste collection

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Page last updated: Tuesday, 10 December 2024

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