Household Hazardous Waste

• Small arms ammunition can be surrendered at nominated firearms dealers throughout Queensland. The Surrender of Small Arms Ammunition factsheet has more details about surrendering small arms ammunition.
• Explosives should not be touched or moved. Secure the area and call the Explosives Inspectorate on 1300 739 868 to arrange for the items to be removed or destroyed.
• Marine flares can be disposed of in special bins provided by the Queensland Department of Transport at Volunteer Marine Rescue, Australian Volunteer Coast Guard and Queensland Transport Maritime Safety Queensland. A flare disposal locations list can be found on the Maritime Safety Queensland website.
• Fireworks, including firecrackers, cannot be made, kept or used by member of the public. Collection of fireworks and firecrackers can be arranged with the Explosives Inspectorate on 1300 739 868.

A list of waste lamp recyclers can be found on theRecyclingNearYou - Planet Ark.

Allow empty paint cans dry completely. You can dispose of the cans in a Resource Recovery Centre scrap metal bin. If you have an inch or more of dried paint left in the bottom of the can, you'll have to throw the whole can in the general waste bin.

• ChemClear is an industry stewardship program which collects and disposes of agvet (agricultural and veterinary) chemical products, at no cost. See the program factsheet and flyer for further information.
  ChemClear Program Factsheet(PDF, 512KB)
• drumMUSTER is a program of AgStewardship Australia Limited for disposing of empty farming chemical containers across rural Australia.

For further information on the ChemClear and drumMUSTER programs please visit the AgForce website.

• The National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme provides free disposal drop-off points for televisions, computers and IT accessories.
• For alternative local drop-off locations refer to the Recycling Near You website.

• The Riverview Resource Recovery Centre can accept a restricted quantity of household and lead acid batteries.

• Most Aldi, Coles and Woolworths supermarkets offer a free recycling service for household batteries in store. To dispose of your used batteries, drop them into the dedicated bins at your nearest store. Any AA, AAA, C, D and 9V batteries (both rechargeable and non-rechargeable) are accepted.

• Battery World also offers a free battery recycling service for their domestic battery disposal. Charges may apply for businesses or community groups. The following types of batteries are accepted:
  • Lead acid batteries, e.g. batteries for cars, boats and motorbikes
  • Mobile phone batteries
  • General purpose batteries, e.g. batteries for toys, calculators, rechargables and games

• Bunnings Warehouse have a battery recycling program which is free and easy to use. All of their stores have battery recycling bins, making it convenient to drop off used batteries. The following types of batteries are accepted:
  • All power tool batteries, e.g. drills, etc.
  • General purpose batteries, e.g. standard household batteries
• B-cycle B-cycle is about creating a responsible battery lifecycle – from buying better batteries for the planet, to safe use, and convenient recycling. As a national, Government-backed Scheme, B-cycle brings together everyone from importers, to retailers, to everyday Australians, to give dead batteries new life. The Scheme is run by the Battery Stewardship Council, and authorised by the ACCC. There are thousands of drop off locations across Australia. Visit Bcycle.com.au to find a drop off location near you.

Mobile phones and computers can be deposited at the Riverview Resource Recovery Centre e-Waste section.

MobileMuster is the Australian mobile phone industry's official product stewardship program. It's a free mobile phone recycling program that accepts all brands and types of mobile phones, plus their batteries, chargers and accessories. For further information on the program or to find your nearest drop-off location, visit the MobileMuster website.

The Commonwealth Department of Health provides funds to collect and dispose of unwanted and out-of-date medicines from the Australian community through the Return Unwanted Medicines (the RUM) project. Unwanted medicines can be taken to your local pharmacy, which will accept them at no charge.

You can drop off your used or empty laser and inkjet cartridges at all Officeworks and participating Australia Post, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys and JB Hi-Fi outlets. Cartridges used in printers, photocopiers and fax machines are accepted, including:

• Inkjet cartridges
• Toner cartridges
• Toner bottles.

Note: this is not a matter governed by Ipswich City Council - the following information has been provided by Queensland Health.

Queensland Health has no resources available to pick up a needle or syringe from a private residence, so it is up to the resident to dispose of the needle themselves.

Safe way to conduct sharps disposal

• Pick the needle up from the middle end of the barrel, being careful not to come in contact with the needle itself.
• Still holding the middle end, drop the needle (pointy-end first) into a puncture-proof, shatter-proof container such as an empty shampoo bottle (not glass, aluminium cans or thin plastic).
• Secure the container and drop it into a sharps disposal bin.
• The contained needle will be incinerated as medical waste.

Free sharps containers are available from Ipswich Sexual Health, Ipswich Health Plaza, 21 Bell Street, Ipswich. If an individual is seen unlawfully disposing of a needle or syringe, they can be reported via the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection website.

Please refer to Queensland Health for sharps disposal locations in Ipswich.

• There are two main types of household smoke alarms - ionisation, which contain a very small amount of radioactive material and photoelectric, which do not contain any such material.
• Ionisation smoke alarms are safe under all normal conditions - including fire - and pose no threat to people or the environment.
• The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS), and Queensland Health, advise that in relation to ionisation smoke alarms:
  • The radiation dose to occupants of a house from a domestic ionisation smoke alarm is very small compared to naturally occurring radiation
  • The dose rate to the hands when handling an ionisation smoke alarm is higher but still less than one tenth that from naturally occurring radiation
  • Individual or small numbers of ionisation smoke alarms can be safely disposed of in the general waste bin.
  • The amount of the same type of radioactivity in normal soils is equivalent to a dozen or more ionisation smoke alarms in every cubic metre. Therefore, the dispersal of ionisation smoke alarms, even in large numbers, through landfill sites, is not of concern.

• Roadside deceased animals: report roadside deceased animals for collection to council on (07) 3810 6666. Deceased animals are scanned for a microchip at point of collection from the road or footpath. Owners will be contracted if a microchip is detected.
• Deceased animal collection service: council provides a deceased animal collection service for Ipswich residents and local businesses. To book a service during business hours please contact Ipswich Waste Services on (07) 3810 8100. Charges apply. For services outside business hours, please contact your local vet or a private collection service such as VetraHealth on 1300 059 572.