Recycle

In a truly circular economy, recycling is our last resort — something we turn to after we’ve tried to reuse, repair, repurpose, or refill.

Recycling involves breaking down waste into its basic materials — like plastic, metal, or glass — and turning them into something new. It usually follows this process:

1. Collection (curbside or drop-off)
2. Sorting (by material type and quality)
3. Processing (cleaning, shredding, melting, etc.)
4. Remanufacturing (into new products or materials)

It’s an important part of the waste hierarchy — but one with greater environmental impact. This process:

• uses energy and resources
• often loses the embedded energy and value of the original product
• faces issues like contamination and complex transport
• sometimes pushes the environmental burden onto communities elsewhere

Beyond the yellow bin

REcheck includes recycling solutions that aren’t covered by your council recycling. We help you find:

• Product stewardship programs (like Mobile Muster or B-cycle)
• Micro-recyclers (like Transmutation or Resourceful Living)
• Aggregator programs (like RecycleSmart and Banish)

For accurate info about what your local bin system can and can’t take, head to RecycleMate.com.au

You might discover a better option — one that saves energy, keeps the value in your stuff, and does the planet a bigger favour.