Take your e-waste to the right place at Council’s free drop-off event

Monday, 1 February 2021

Pack old, broken and unwanted electronic items into the boot of your car or trailer and bring them down to Jamison Park for Council’s free Electronic Waste Drop-off Day on Saturday 13 February between 9am and 3pm. Entrance to the drop-off day is via Jamison Road.

Electronic waste, or e-waste is growing at three times the rate of any other waste. It’s important to take it to the right place such as Council’s free e-waste drop-off day as some items contain valuable materials which can be recovered, recycled and used to make other products. This resource recovery process is not possible when they are disposed of in household bins, and sadly, end up in landfill.

Council encourages residents to pack up old, unwanted and broken televisions, computers, small kitchen appliances, stereos, mobile phones and other electronic waste, pop them in the back of the car or trailer, and attend the event where friendly staff will unload them for you.

Penrith Mayor and Sustainability Champion Karen McKeown OAM praised the drop-off day and described it as a great initiative, and celebrated residents for their ongoing commitment to recycling, despite the challenges faced in 2020 and 2021.

“Council runs this event twice each year with past events collecting over 60 tonnes of electronic waste which can then be disassembled, sorted and recovered for recycling,” Cr McKeown said.

“It’s vital that we dispose of these items responsibly so that they can be recycled. When sent to landfill, they take up a huge amount of unnecessary space with the added risk of some components being toxic to the environment and leaching into the soil if disposed of in this way.

“The consistent amount of e-waste we have had dropped off in past years really shows that Penrith residents genuinely care about our environment and are keen to do their part in keeping these items out of landfill, which is a great outcome for our City,” Cr McKeown concluded.

The event’s COVID-19 safe plan will be active on the day. Council requests residents remain in their vehicles while Council staff unload the items from their boot or trailer.

For more information about the drop-off day and what waste is accepted, visit penrith.city/events

For residents who miss the drop-off day, Council encourages them to take their e-waste to the Penrith Community Recycling Centre located at Gate 3, 96 Dunheved Circuit, St Marys for free recycling. More information is available at penrith.city/CRC

Information contained within this news release was correct as at Monday, 1 February 2021.