Reuse and Recycling Station

The University of Queensland has partnered with the Green Ambassador Program and the UQ Wildlife Association to host Reuse and Recycling Stations on campus for our staff and students.

Where are the stations?

UQ now has two Reuse and Recycling Stations, one at the St Lucia campus and one at the Gatton campus.

St Lucia: The station is located in the Kingham Room foyer (Building 21C) (see St Lucia map).
Gatton: The station is located underneath the JK Murray Library (Building 8102) (see Gatton map).

What can be recycled?

The following items can be recycled at the recycling stations:

Type	Items
Small E-waste	Laptops, tablets, cameras, keyboards, mice, cables, circuit boards, IPODs & other MP3 Players, smart watches.
Soft plastic	Any plastic that can be easily scrunched into a ball - plastic shopping bags, shrink wrap or bubble wrap.
Mobile phones	Mobile handsets, batteries and accessories.
Household batteries	Household handheld batteries used in cameras, torches, toys and appliances (AA, AAA, C, D and 9V batteries -both rechargeable and non-rechargeable)
Printer ink cartridges	Household printer cartridges from a variety of printers
Oral care products	Toothpaste tubes and caps, manual toothbrushes, electric toothbrush heads, toothbrush and toothpaste tube plastic packaging, floss containers. Electronic toothbrush handles and bases are NOT accepted.
Eye glasses	Used prescription or non-prescription glasses and sunglasses.
Stationery items	Functional pens and markers.
DVDs and CDs	All types and formats of CDs and DVDs.
Paper	Clean or printed paper white, coloured and glossy paper, magazines, newspapers and envelopes (including those with plastic windows).

Recycling station FAQs

Why does reuse and recycling matter?

Recycling reprocesses waste into a new products, while reuse finds another purpose for an item that would have otherwise been thrown away. Both reuse and recycling result in fewer raw materials needing to be extracted and processed to make new products, and less waste ending up in landfill.

By reusing and recycling today you will be helping reduce the impact on the environment of tomorrow.

What happens to items after they have been dropped off?

E-Waste items are dismantled and separated into the various components for reprocessing into new products. Components include glass, plastics, iron, steel, tin, nickel, aluminium and copper, and precious metals such as gold, platinum and silver.

Soft plastic are down-cycled into products like decking, wheelie bins, park benches, shipping pallets, bottles and even playgrounds.

Mobile phones items are recycled through the Mobile Muster take-back program. Components are disassembled, plastics and aluminium are melted down to create new products and precious metals are recovered (gold, silver, copper, lead) for remanufacture.

Batteries are taken apart, the plastic parts are removed and down-cycled, lead parts are melted and sent to battery manufacturers where they’re used in the production of new batteries.

Printer cartridges are repurposed or recycled through the Cartridges 4 Planet Ark program. The cartridges are re-manufactured using the plastic casings of the empty cartridges. Any casings that are not suitable for re-use are broken down into material types (such as plastic and metal) and recycled to base materials.

Oral care products are recycled through TerraCycle. Plastics are down-cycled into products like garden pots and park benches.

Eye glasses and sunglasses are recycled through the Lions Recycle for Sight Program and are delivered to people in need around the world.

Stationery items are reused on campus or donated to people in need.

DVDs, CDs are repurposed, by the Lions Club, into playing card holders which are used by elderly people and those with arthritic pain.

Paper is recycled into new paper and cardboard products.

Is recycling the best option?

The most effective way to reduce waste, and the most environmentally preferred strategy, is to not create it in the first place. Reducing the amount of waste created and reusing, is the best way to save natural resources, protect the environment and save money. Making a new product requires a lot of materials and energy, from extracting raw materials, to manufacturing the product, to transporting it to the place of purchase.