Recycling mercury-containing items found around the home and workplace is good for the environment, so it’s vital to know where to recycle them in Australia.
Mercury is used in many household items, including batteries, light bulbs, mobile phones, laptops and even dental fillings.
Recycling mercury-containing products keeps items that have reached the end of their useful life away from landfill and protects the environment from mercury contamination outbreaks.
Where can you recycle mercury waste?
Items with mercury are recycled in different ways and need to be taken to dedicated collection points rather than discarded via household bins.
Households and small businesses can take most used mercury-containing products to drop-off points provided by their local council, but you should check where different items go where beforehand.
Some retailers and organisations also provide mercury recycling services, depending on the product.
You can drop off spent batteries at Aldi supermarkets and Battery World retail stores, while Officeworks outlets collect a range of mercury-containing items including computers, printers and mobile phones.
Some computer and laptop makers like Apple offer recycling programs, where you can even trade in eligible devices for a store gift card.
The national Mobile Muster program makes recycling mobile phones even easier by offering free mailing options to households.
Regardless of what mercury-containing waste you have, you can find your closest recycling solution at RecyclingNearYou.com.au.
Why recycle mercury-containing items?
There are many benefits to recycling mercury, but the most important reason is that it helps avert widespread mercury poisoning outbreaks like the Minamata disaster.
If products with mercury end up in landfill, mercury can build up and contaminate land and waterways.
Mercury doesn’t disappear when it enters water streams though — it transforms into methylmercury and bio-magnifies up through the food chain, from small fish to larger fish to humans.
That’s why it’s so important that we all do our part to recycle mercury and prevent it from making its way into the environment.
Call in the mercury recycling experts
For larger businesses and organisations that produce commercial-scale quantities of mercury waste, recycling is easy too.
As Australasia’s most experienced mercury recovery and recycling company, Ecocycle offers tailored recycling solutions for organisations of all sizes.
We can supply collection boxes to your workplace and pick them up once they’re full, processing the waste at our purpose-built facilities across Australia.
To find out how Ecocycle can help with your mercury-containing waste, give us a call on 1300 32 62 92 or fill in the form below.
