Recycling at Transfer Stations

E-waste contains a high amount of recyclable resources – plastic, steel, gold, silver, platinum, nickel, zinc and copper.

E-waste is picked up from our transfer stations and taken to either Cairns or Townsville to be manually dismantled. Some components are then sent to relevant recyclers in Brisbane for further processing.

E-waste can be disposed for FREE at:

• Stoters Hill
• Tully
• Mission Beach
• Bells Creek

The following items are accepted at Waste Transfer Stations:

Televisions

• Plasma Televisions
• Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Televisions
• Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Televisions
• Rear Projection Televisions

Computers and Accessories

• Portable processing machines – i.e. laptops, notebooks and palmtops
• Computer Monitors (LCD & CRT)
• Multi-Function Devices that print, copy, scan and/or fax
• Desktop Printers
• Hard Drives
• Floppy drives
• Joysticks and gamepads
• Compact disk drives
• Desktops/Central Processing Units (CPU’s)
• Mouse and trackball units
• Cards, Motherboards
• Scanners
• Digital video disk drives
• Keyboards
• Web cameras
• Electrical transformers in CPU’s

For further information visit the E-waste Recycling website.

Automotive Batteries

Service provider MAMS collect and recycle automotive batteries. To find out more about recycling process visit https://www.mamsgroup.com.au/cassowary/

Residents can recycle their automotive batteries at any Waste Transfer Station, for FREE. 

Household Batteries

Batteries contain hazardous material that when disposed into landfill can release toxic substances contaminating soil and fresh water. Council have teamed up with service providers Cleanaway to collect and recycle household batteries. To find out what parts of household batteries are reused visit: https://www.cleanaway.com.au/waste/batteries/

To responsibly dispose of your household and cordless tool batteries, take them to your nearest Council customer service centre or library and drop them into the bright orange bin.

These bins can also be found at the follow Waste Transfer Stations:

• Stoters Hill
• Tully
• Mission Beach
• Bells Creek

Visit our Green Waste into Free Mulch page for more information.

For motor oil that cannot be used, residents can bring it into a Waste Transfer Station for recycling.

A service provider collects oil which is cleaned for reuse.

Motor oil from non-commercial premises can be disposed at all Waste Transfer Stations for FREE. Maximum of 20L can be disposed at any one time.

TyreCycle offer a recycling service for all tyres and reuse material for various products including athletics tracks, building insulation, new tyres, road surfaces and playground surfaces. For more information on how tyres are processed for reuse visit the TyreCycle website.

Tyres can be disposed at all Waste Transfer Stations. Due to being a regulated waste, costs for tyre disposal are based on tyre size as stated in the Recycling Fact Sheet. 

A service provider degases and checks bottles before adding them to the ferrous metals pile.

We encourage the community to degas their bottles before bringing them to the Waste Transfer Station.

Gas bottles and fire extinguishers can be disposed at all Waste Transfer Stations for $18.40 each.

Halon (yellow) fire extinguishers are not accepted at Waste Transfer Stations. We recommend contacting your local fire station for advice on responsible disposal.

Ferrous metals include galvanized iron, white goods – air conditioners, fridges and freezers.

As part of the Far North Queensland Regional Organisations of Councils (FNQROC), Sims Metal provide a service to recycle our ferrous scrap metal. A pile of metal is collected two to three times per year, transported to where it is smelted, contaminants are removed and the metal is remade into other products. For more information regarding the process visit the Sims Metal website.

Ferrous metal can be disposed at all Waste Transfer Stations for FREE.

Aluminum, brass and copper, can be brought into any Waste Transfer Station for recycling. Disposal of non-ferrous metal is FREE.

Car and motorbike bodies are recycled as part of ferrous metal. Prior to bringing them into a Waste Transfer Station, all fluids and batteries removed.

Car and motorbike bodies can be disposed at Stoters Hill, Tully and Cardwell Waste Transfer Stations. There is no charge for vehicle bodies, there is charge for tyres.

Fertiliser bags are collected by MAMS for reuse. To find out more about recycling of fertiliser bags contact MAMS Group.

Emptied fertiliser bags can be disposed at Tully, Stoters Hill and Bells Creek for FREE.

For banana bag recycling contact MAMS Group.

Providing the community with an easy and environmentally-friendly option for disposal of farming and veterinary chemical drums, Council are part of the national drumMUSTER stewardship program.

As part of the drum muster scheme, drum muster containers are collected and recycled into other products for reuse.

This recycling scheme is only available for Drummuster approved veterinary and agricultural product containers. For more information visit: www.drummuster.org.au/

DrumMUSTER containers can be disposed for free at;

• Ritchie Technologies (Ritchies Plastics), 537, Bruce Highway, Silkwood 4856
• Tully Waste Transfer Station, and
• Stoters Hill Waste Transfer Stations.

For inspection prior to acceptance Containers must be triple rinsed, emptied of any residual with lids removed and accompanied with container declaration forms

Find other collection sites near you by searching on the online drumMUSTER search tool.

Cardboard is recycled by MAMS, for more information regarding cardboard recycling contact MAMS Group.

Please ensure cardboard is dry, clean, flat and uncontaminated.

Domestic cardboard can be disposed at Waste Transfer Stations for FREE.

Commercial cardboard can be disposed at Waste Transfer Stations at $77/t for commericial as stated in Cassowary Coast Regional Council Fees and Charges.

Domestic and commercial recycling of cardboard at Cardwell Waste Transfer Station is currently unavailable. Council is working on arranging cardborad recycling at Cardwell, in the meantime residents can recycle cardboard at the closest of our other Waste Transfer Stations. We apologise for any inconvenience. 

All glass containers that are eligible for the Contain Refund Scheme are transported to MAMS Contain Refund Depot (CRD). CRD operators sort the containers into material types after they are returned by customers. Generally, the sorted containers are transported to a processing facility. Here, the processor prepares the material for recycling – usually by crushing the materials into bales.

Accredited recyclers purchase the materials off a secure online auction portal run by Container Exchange (COEX) which they recycle into new products. If the materials are recycled into a new eligible container, the journey starts again!

CRS Eligible containers can be disposed at all Waste Transfer Stations for FREE. Please ensure all containers are emptied and intact with no lids.

Tips shops accept any material and goods that can be reused including furniture, white goods, utensils, toys and clothing.

These items are accepted at all Waste Transfer Stations for FREE.

Printer cartridges are available for recycling through the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program.

Printer cartridges can be disposed at Council Customer Service offices, Harvey Norman Innisfail and Australia Post outlets for FREE.

Endeavour Foundation provide a service to strip down and recycle material that make up spring mattresses.

Spring mattresses can be disposed at Stoters Hill and Tully Waste Transfer Stations. A small fee covers the cost of Endeavours labor. Alternatively, spring mattresses can be striped and materials separated for domestic disposal as dry waste for a small fee pending on the load size.

If solar panels are functional they can be dropped off at Tip Shop. For more information contact MAMS Group.

Domestic acrylic/oil and water-based paint in its original tin with a secure lid can be recycled at the following Waste Transfer Stations:

• Stoters Hill
• Tully
• Mission Beach