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Recycling is the process of converting waste into reusable materials and has had a significant impact on how society has looked to increase sustainability within their lifestyle. At CopperRock, our Bayside Waste & Recycling centre allows residents to dispose of their recyclable waste, including cardboard, knowing that it will be properly processed by our experienced team. However, there are a range of misconceptions about recycling cardboard that we’re going to address in today’s article. 

We’re going to clarify everything you need to know about recycling cardboard at CopperRock. For more information, be sure to check out our Recycling Dos and Don’ts page on the correct way to prepare your recycling for our centre. But for now, let’s dive into how exactly recycling cardboard works at CopperRock. 

Is Recycling Cardboard Free? 

It’s important to understand that certain recycling materials will cost you money to get processed at CopperRock. This is because it takes time and labour costs to appropriately process certain items and materials. However, this isn’t to say that all recyclables cost you money to dispose of. In fact, plenty of regular household items are absolutely free to recycle at CopperRock. 

Free-to-recycle items include:

For cardboard, we accept a car boot load of cardboard and paper for free, however, if your supply exceeds this, you will have to pay a charge. This means it might be worth cutting up your cardboard boxes, or filling them with paper so you can fit a large load within your boot. Anything that is hanging out of your boot will cost you money to have processed. 

Recyclables that can be processed at CopperRock, but will cost you money, include:

Items and materials that aren’t accepted at all include aerosol paint cans, asbestos, food waste and chemicals. 

What Shouldn’t I Recycle? 

When you prepare your cardboard for drop-off at a centre like CopperRock, you need to make sure that the load has been completely cleared of non-recyclable items and materials. This means that you need to make sure that the plastic wrapping has been removed, any boxes have been emptied of polystyrene foam, and that any tape has been torn off from cardboard or paper. 

If your waste hasn’t been sorted by the time you reach our Waste & Recycling centre, an additional charge will incur. This is because the process of sorting will be given to our team, who are paid for their  labour. So to avoid this cost, make sure that your recycling is completely clear of non-recyclables before you pay us a visit. And don’t try to sneak in anything that doesn’t belong – trust us, we’ve seen it all! 

The Importance of Responsible Recycling 

The reason we make an effort to inform you about responsible recycling practises is because the consequences of irresponsible recycling can be quite severe. If you fail to properly separate your cardboard from non-recyclable waste when disposing of it at our centre, then you run the risk of having inappropriate materials finding their way into our processing machinery. This can result in damages to the machinery and potential health and safety risks to our workers. Therefore, separating and/or declaring what’s in your load is an essential part of the process. Read about CopperRock’s Waste and Recycling Process.

Recycling Cardboard at CopperRock

We hope that this information has cleared up some of the misconceptions and questions around recycling cardboard at CopperRock. If you have any more questions, or would like to take your cardboard to our Bayside Waste & Recycling centre, then why not give us a call on (03) 9585 4385 today!