Dispose of household chemicals
Different recycling and disposal methods are needed for these special types of waste.
Project Status: When you need to do this
Any leftover household chemicals you have at home – including paints, solvents, pesticides and even cleaning products – shouldn’t be put in your household bins.
If you’re a resident of the local area you can dispose of household chemicals safely at a Household Chemical CleanOut.
This NSW Government program is a free service.
Recycle It Saturday
Drop off old electronics, polystyrene, clothes in great condition, x-ray scans, household gas cylinders and more at Recycle It Saturday, 9am to 3pm on Saturday 20 May at Alexandra Canal Depot.
Please note soft plastics are no longer accepted for recycling across all our services.
What you need to do
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Find a drop-off location and date that suits you
To find drop-off locations and dates, visit the Household Chemical CleanOut website or call the NSW environment line on 131 555.
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Transport your items carefully
You should stay in your vehicle at the drop-off site – an attendant will come to you.
If you’re a building manager or have a lot of waste
Please contact us to discuss quantities for drop-off.
Before you start
Work out what you can and can’t bring to a chemical drop-off event.
What you can bring:
- solvents and household cleaners
- paints and thinners
- pesticides and herbicides
- poisons
- aerosols
- pool chemicals
- motor oils, fuels and fluids
- acids and alkalis
- car batteries
- household batteries and light globes (these can also be recycled at our customer service centres and libraries at any time)
- hobby chemicals such as photographic chemicals
- gas bottles
- fire extinguishers
- fluorescent lamps
- smoke alarms
- cosmetics and skincare.
Only household (not commercial) quantities of the above listed household chemicals and items are accepted. The maximum container size is 20kg or 20L.
What you can’t bring
E-waste is not accepted at Household Chemical CleanOut events. Recycle these at the next e-waste drop off day or book a pick-up.
After you finish
Many chemicals collected on the day are recycled while others are treated for safe disposal. There are a number of processes, depending on the type of waste. For example:
- Paint is mixed with other solvents and used in cement manufacturing while the metal containers are recycled.
- Gas cylinders have any remaining gas taken out while the steel in the bottle is recycled. However, many of the bottles are returned to the hire market – so they’re reused rather than recycled.
- Lead, acid and plastic in batteries are recovered and recycled.
- Fluoro tubes, which contain mercury, are crushed to isolate the phosphor powder from the glass. This powder is processed to capture any mercury, which is then sold for a range of industrial uses while the leftover glass and metals is put back into the recycling system.
