Penrith City is a small but vibrant community nestled between the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury Valley in New South Wales. It takes less than an hour to drive from Penrith City to Sydney’s business and financial center. It has already become a business hub for office work and commercial transactions.
This has contributed to the considerable increase of people who reside in the city and come for work. The Council has had to deal with the resulting increase in the solid waste volume from the growing population. They’ve mapped out a sound and practical garbage collection and solid waste management program.
Penrith residents are urged to do their bit by throwing only garbage that’s allowed in household bins and taking their other waste to the right place. Here are some tips to help you keep your waste legal.
- You Can’t Put Chemical Waste In Your Bin
The first big tip you need to know to keep your waste legal in Penrith City is that you’re not allowed to put your chemical waste in your household bin. Chemical waste refers to those household chemicals that you might have been keeping at home that have already gone beyond their expiry date. They’re usually those unwanted small bottles of chemicals that are left in nooks and corners in your laundry area or kitchen. Some hide them away in their garden sheds or garage.
Here are some of the items which are considered chemical waste:
- Car batteries
- Engine oils
- Fuels and fluids
- Paint and related products
- Acids and alkalis
- Fire extinguishers
- Household cleaning chemicals
- Electric globes and tubes
- Solutions for gardening use
- Bottles that contain chemical gases
- Chemicals for hobby use
- Chemicals for sanitizing pools
- Poisonous gases and liquids
You shouldn’t put your chemical waste in household bins for collection because it can cause harm to the environment if they’re not handled properly. Liquid chemical waste can seep into the ground soil and contaminate the surface and groundwater. They can also be harmful if ingested by animal pets and wildlife. Garbage collectors could also get injured by gas bottles and light globes. Moreover, flammable chemicals can also worsen house fires and leave toxic fumes.
To keep your chemical waste legal in Penrith, you should always take them to the right place. You can take old batteries, light globes, used motor oils, emptied gas bottles, and fire extinguishers in small quantities of not more than 20 kilograms or 20 liters to the Penrith Community Recycling Centre. Same with paint in quantities of not more than 100 liters. You can watch for Chemical Cleanout Events for larger quantities and take them there.
- Don’t Put Your Sharps In Bins
You’re not allowed to put your sharps in either your yellow-lid recycling bin or your green-lid food organics and garden organics (FOGO) bin. Sharps refer to solid waste with pointed or sharp ends such as syringes, needles, diabetic testing kits, and other similar instruments. You’re not supposed to put them inside your bins because they can harm the garbage collection crew. They might get pierced by a needle or syringe since they don’t know what’s inside the black bags.
The most suitable way to dispose of sharps is to put them in sharps containers. You can buy these from any of the pharmacies. When you tell them you need a container to throw your sharps, they’ll know. An alternative is to put them inside rigid plastic containers such as cleaning chemicals, liquid detergents, and dishwashing liquid. Sharps placed inside them won’t be able to hurt anyone accidentally.
You can take your sharps to any public hospitals in New South Wales, health centers, chemists, and pharmacies.
- Don’t Put Your Electronic Waste In Bins
Electronic waste is also not allowed to be put into your household bins. Electronic or e-waste comprises old, non-functioning, or damaged electrical items. This includes phone chargers, headsets, broken kitchen appliances, mobile phones, electric tools and gadgets, printers, cartridges, electronic toys, electric fans, DVD or VCR players, keyboards, computer monitors, and other electronics that conked out and died on you.
It’s essential to bring your electronic waste to the right place because they’re harmful to the environment if not disposed of properly. Their plastic casings and components make up about 70% of toxic chemicals improperly disposed of in landfills each year.
You can take some of your recyclable e-waste to Penrith’s Community Recycling Centre. Other items such as old mobile phones can be brought to collection stations at any of the branches of Penrith City Library, where they’ll be received without having to pay for anything.
- You Can Call For Pick-up Of Bulky Items
You can call the Penrith City waste services team to have your large and bulky items scheduled for pick-up. These are items that are either too large or too heavy to be placed inside your household waste bin. Some examples are refrigerators, televisions, freezers, or washing machines that aren’t working anymore.
Here are other items which are considered bulky items:
- Garden waste and materials
- Broken household goods and items
- Damages household furniture
- Other white goods in disrepair
Penrith Council Waste Programs
Penrith Council takes waste management seriously. They’ve designed a sound and effective waste management program for the entire city. Residents have done their bit by throwing waste in the right places and bringing the hazardous or harmful waste to the designated centers.
