Power tools make up a substantial portion of Australia’s electrical and electronic waste (e-waste).
Traditionally they’ve ended up in landfill at the end of their working lives, but with states rolling out bans on the dumping of e-waste in landfill, power tool owners will need to find new ways to dispose of old tools.
The only viable (and, in the long term, legal) method of disposing of power tools will be to recycle them. A typical power tool mostly contains aluminium, steel, copper and plastics, all of which are recyclable.
Many older tools may also contain nickel-cadmium batteries while newer cordless tools tend to be powered by lithium batteries. Battery materials vary in toxicity, with cadmium being of particular concern. Fortunately, power tool batteries can also be recycled.
There’s another reason to recycle old power tools: safety.
If a tool is physically worn out or damaged, or electrically unsafe, recycling results in its complete destruction, removing the risk that it will harm some unsuspecting user.
Where can I take my power tools for recycling?
Recycling old power tools is getting easier.
As landfill bans are rolled out, councils and recycling companies are expanding the number of collection points for old tools.
Here are a few options:
- Power tools can be left free of charge at any of Ecocycle’s facilities around Australia.
- We are working with power tool manufacturers and suppliers to develop in-store collection programs for old power tools. This will allow tradies and DIY enthusiasts to drop off their old tools when they buy new ones. Easy!
- We can provide scaled power tool collection solutions to construction sites, electrical contractors’ depots or other worksites where significant numbers of tools require disposal. We can even arrange for the separate collection of spent power tool batteries.
What happens to old power tools?
Ecocycle is at the forefront of the battle against the rising tide of e-waste, constantly adapting to the increased types of waste that will require recycling as a result of landfill bans.
Our Tasmanian facility will soon be home to state-of-the-art shredding equipment capable of processing many thousands of tonnes of e-waste, including power tools, each year.
Once shredded, a range of sorting methods can be used to separate individual fragments according to the type of plastic or metal they contain. The recovered materials can then be reused in manufacturing or other applications.
Recycling power tools is easy
It has never been easier to recycle old power tools. If you can’t make it to one of our facilities, check if your tool supplier takes back old tools for recycling.
And don’t forget that we can arrange collection of larger volumes of defunct power tools.
Would you like to know more? Call us on 1300 32 62 92 or fill in the form below and one of our specialists will be in touch.
