Did you know 20% of what you’re putting in your household bin could actually be recycled? That’s one of every five items you’re throwing out that isn’t being properly disposed of. Which, considering many of us in lockdown are creating enough rubbish that we’re having to empty our bins every other day, is a lot of missed recycling.
So, what to do? Well, turns out, there’s a company you can call that’ll come collect it. Called RecycleSmart, the waste management company aims to make recycling as easy as ordering an Uber by letting you book a recycling pickup through its phone app. They’ll take your items to recycling centres and drop-off locations all around your council.
You simply enter your address and a preferred pickup date between Monday and Friday, and then leave your recycling outside and they’ll organise someone to come pick it up and make sure it goes to the right place.
While the company’s site has an extensive list of items that can be recycled, in a nutshell, it’s soft plastics, including bread bags, chocolate wrappers and courier satchels; e-waste, including old kettles and blenders, charger cords and headphones; all kinds of clothes; and general household waste, including used batteries and lightbulbs and empty shampoo, conditioner and body wash bottles.
Helpfully, RecycleSmart’s app also has a Recyclopedia feature, which has information on how to properly dispose of hundreds of household items, as well as lets you keep track of your council’s rubbish collection days and report illegal rubbish dumping directly to your council.
Subscribe to the app at no cost for a free monthly pick-up of two bags. If you have nothing to recycle a month, you can skip a pickup (although, you would be surprised at the amount of soft plastics piling up in your kitchen even if you pay extra attention to it).
Or, if you’re not ready to commit, book up to five bags per pick-up at a bargain price of $2 per bag. That’s after your first free bag pick-up, though. Head here to get the RecycleSmart app and start doing your part for the environment.
The service is currently available in 13 councils across Sydney, with the list growing: