Recycling

Although there is no kerbside recycling service available in Alice Springs, many recyclable items can be taken to the Regional Waste Management Facility. Some products are recycled here and some are partially processed here and then transported interstate.

What can I recycle?

There is no charge for residential recycling of clean items listed below but commercial disposal fees will be charged where applicable. See a full list of fees and charges here. To ensure that items get properly recycled, residents must separate items at the Transfer Station.

• Glass, bottles and jars
• Plastic bottles included in the 10c scheme (no refund given)
• HDPE Plastics
• Clean and flattened cardboard
• Aluminium cans
• Paint
• Batteries
• Steel cans
• Spray paint cans
• Food waste
• Garden waste (cactai and leaf litter into general waste. Palm fronds into palm bins)
• E‑waste such as TV’s, printers, data cables, computers

The following items can be taken to The Rediscovery Centre to be recycled for free:

• Mobile phones/​tablets
• Toothbrushes and empty toothpaste containers
• Household batteries
• Automotive batteries
• Razors
• Coffee pods
• Printer cartridges
• Globes (flouro)
• Furniture, building materials, garden tools, kitchen items, small appliances and mattresses that are clean and in good condition.

The Rediscovery Centre does not accept gas items, safety helmets, clothes, whitegoods, ladders or tyres.

**Wine and Spirit Bottles**

Although glass wine and spirit bottles are not part of the Container Deposit Scheme in the NT, the Alice Springs Town Council offers a 10c refund for these containers.

Wine and spirit bottles can be brought to the Rediscovery Centre between 9.30am‑2.30pm on Saturdays (with a maximum of 500 wine or spirit bottles per Alice Springs resident ID) to receive a refund. Read more information here.

What is contamination?

Contamination reduces the value of the recyclable materials, and can lead to them having to be disposed of rather than recycled. This is why it is vital that recyclable items are separated and clean. In addition lids are to be removed from all bottles, jars and HDPE plastics, large amounts of staples and tape are to be removed from cardboard, food soiled cardboard is to go into general waste, and food only is to go into the Biobins – if you can’t eat it, don’t put it in!

What happens to my recycling?

Glass collected at the Regional Waste Management Facility goes into the only glass crusher in the Territory and is turned into road base, foot and bike paths, or for waterwise landscaping. Crushed glass can also be purchased from the Rediscovery Centre. 

HDPE plastics are processed through a granulator and sent to a company who processes these into street bollards.

Cardboard is fed into a machine and baled into 500KG cubes, ready for transportation. The cubes are sent interstate to a recycling facility where it is recycled into new products. Cardboard – OPAL in Adelaide – reprocessed boxes – next time you look at a Cardboard box look for the logo OPAL!

Paint is put into containers which the paint company collects and reuses the paint. 

Steel is bailed and sent to Adelaide where it is melted down recycled.

Garden prunings (except cacti, leaf litter and palm fronds) are mulched onsite using a tub grinder, so grass clippings, leaf waste, cacti and palm fronds need to go into general waste so to not contaminate the mulch. This mulch is used throughout Alice Springs and can be purchased from the Rediscovery Centre. 

E‑waste is collected by TechCollects and is dismantled with individual parts recycled or reused.

Concrete from demolition is crushed and is used in road base in Alice Springs.

What can’t I recycle? 

The following items can’t be recycled at the Regional Waste Management Facility so need to go into general waste:

• Paper
• Magazines
• Newspaper
• Grass clippings,
• Leaf waste,
• Cacti and

Disposing of other items

Construction and Demolition Waste

Sorting construction and demolition waste results in reduced landfill and fees. Clean fill and rocks (less than 10cm in diameter) can be disposed of for free for both residents and commercial operators.

White Goods

Residents can avoid paying a fee for dropping off their unwanted white goods at the Regional Waste Management Facility on the first Saturday of every month. Whitegoods must be empty and clean and only 1 item per person is free.

Cash for wine and spirit bottles

Alice Springs residents can claim 10c a bottle when they recycle glass wine and spirit bottles at the Regional Waste Management Facility.

Alice Springs Town Council has been offering cash for containers refunds since 2008 then partnered with the NT Government in 2013 to continue this initiative for glass wine and spirit bottles when NT cash for containers legislation was introduced. 

The initiative aims to reduce waste, increase recycling and remove litter across the town by incentivising individuals to bring them to the Regional Waste Management Facility.

Residents can take advantage of the refund initiative by taking their wine and spirit bottles to the Rediscovery Centre at the Regional Waste Management Facility from 9:30am 2:30pm every Saturday. A maximum of 500 wine and/​or spirit bottles can be claimed per person per day.

This service is available to all residents, providing that ID is shown.

Please note: Alice Springs Town Council is not a registered Collection Depot, so no refund for eligible containers (marked with the 10c refund) can be given.