Have you ever wondered what happens to the items you drop off at Recycle It Saturday?
The next Recycle It Saturday is on Saturday 22 November from 9am to 3pm at Alexandra Canal Depot and is open to City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra council residents only.
We look at 5 common items and find out where they go once you’ve said goodbye.
Empty blister packs
Not sure what to do with empty paracetamol or ibuprofen packets? These little plastic and foil items, called blister packs, are made of valuable materials that can’t be recycled in kerbside bins.
The plastic becomes decking and the foil turns into aluminium pucks for making steel.
Bicycles
Pre-loved bicycles are picked up, repaired and refurbished by Revolve ReCYCLING, a not-for-profit organisation based in Alexandria, returning them to good working condition to be resold or passed on to families in need. Bikes that can’t be salvaged are stripped for parts such as steel, aluminium and rubber, and used to repair other bikes or recycled into new products.
X-rays
Old x-ray, MRI and CT scans or films are soaked in a chemical bath to extract any silver, which is reused in jewellery, utensils and electronics.
The plastic backing is recycled into products such as shampoo bottles and polyester fleece.
Electronics
Electronics include everything from televisions and computers to microwaves and mobile phones and are full of valuable materials.
Around 95% of the electronics we collect are recycled and diverted from landfill. Plastic materials become furniture, play equipment and pens, while metals go into new devices. Some electronics may be repaired, refurbished and resold, so don’t forget to wipe your data first.
Batteries contain non-renewable materials that can’t be replenished. Luckily, materials such as mercury, lithium and zinc can be recycled over and over again to make new batteries.
Small metal items
At Recycle It Saturday, we take any small items that weigh less than 10kg – think pots, pans, keys, old cutlery, tools, metal jewellery and wire coat hangers.
They’re sorted into metal categories such as steel, copper, aluminium, lead, silver and gold before being shredded and smelted into new products, reducing the need for mining and giving valuable metals a second life.
The next Recycle It Saturday is on Saturday 22 November from 9am to 3pm at Alexandra Canal Depot. Find out what you can bring.
Published 18 February 2021, updated 31 October 2025
