What

 Where you can take these

What they do with them

Art / craft

materials – clean items for use in school art projects

Reverse Art Truck  (formerly Reverse Garbage Truck)

Donations are by appointment only.
3/17 Greenwood Ave, Ringwood
Phone/Fax 9879 1264
OR
182 Quarry Rd, Narre Warren
Phone 9707 1333
Tues-Fri 9am – 5pm , Sat 9am – 1pm

Collect rejects, seconds and factory offcuts for distribution to schools, early learning centres and the community.

Baby things

St Kilda Mums – 14 Winterton Rd, Clayton. See ‘Donate things‘. Book a time to drop off donations.

Donate Direct

Op shops

Friends of Refugees (Springvale)

St Kilda Mums receives requests from Maternal Health Nurses and local social service agencies on behalf of families in need. Then try to meet or exceed each request with quality pre-loved donations. Check their website for what they can and can’t accept.

Batteries

Aldi,  Coles, Woolworths and other supermarkets as well as Bunnings and Officeworks have collection bins at the front of all stores for AA, AAA, C, D & 9V batteries.

Battery World collects all types of batteries.

Libraries in Glen Eira & Stonnington also have collection boxes for batteries.

Recycle

Bicycles

Adult size bikes, BMX bikes and children’s bikes 24″ or larger can be taken any Bicycle Super Store (eg 1030 Dandenong Rd, Carnegie) who pass them on to  Bicycles for Humanity  (though not bikes that are covered in rust). Alternatively volunteers listed on the Bicycles for Humanity website can arrange for collection of bikes.

See also:
Wecycle (Northcote)
Back2Bikes (Port Melbourne)
Dr Cranky’s (kids’ bikes)
Brainwave Bikes (See website for dropoff points)

Send to Africa as sustainable transport to help break the poverty cycle. Bikes can travel twice as fast and carry 4 times the load as people on foot. Shipping containers in which they are sent become bike workshops, providing employment, skills, training and much more for communities.

Wecycle & Back2Bikes rehome unwanted bikes with people who need them

Dr Cranky’s works on getting kids riding bikes

Brainwave Bikes donate, recycle and reuse bikes – while providing employment and traineeships for people with a disability, and raising money for Brainwave Australia.

Books

Children’s books

Fiction & non-fiction books other than history books, published after 2005: Australian Books for Children of Africa – see www.abca.org.au to organise a dropoff in Caulfield

123Read2Me – They have bin locations for book dropoffs in various sites around Melbourne. See  their website https://123read2me.org.au/ for locations.

Other books:
Brotherhood of St Laurence op shops accept books in good condition for sale by Brotherhood Books (not encyclopedias, ex-library books  or textbooks)

I Love Books 12 Arcade Rd, Mont Albert North
Tel. 9898 1677

Your local street library – boxes people set up outside their homes for people to leave and take books.

ABCA provides second-hand books and writing materials for underprivileged schools in rural Africa.
Note: 
Books must be in good condition and suit children aged 12 years and under.

123Read2Me gives books to Aussie kids who need them.

I Love Books buys current-edition school textbooks for the Australian and Victorian Curriculum years 7-VCE including study guides, and also some University books in resalable condition. See the registration page on their website.

Bras, new or preloved in good condition

Support the Girls – dropoff location at Illusions Lingerie, 22 Puckle St, Moonee Ponds (Mon-Sat 9am-4pm). Mailing options also available.

‘Empowering vulnerable, disadvantaged and isolated women and girls with access to professionally fitted bras, essential products and the support needed to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.’

Bread tags (plastic)

Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs
Follow this link to find your nearest collection point.

The tags have a good recycling value. 250kg of the tags bring in enough money to buy an entry level wheelchair for a needy person in South Africa.

Cameras

Ted’s Cameras

Camera Recycle (Brisbane)

Libraries in Glen Eira have collection boxes for small electronics

Ted’s Cameras supports a number of organisations around the world who are in desperate need of electrical equipment such as cameras. Broken cameras are dismantled and parts are used to repair cameras when new replacement parts aren’t available

Cars & other vehicles

 Kids Under Cover 
https://www.kuc.org.au/get-involved/donate-your-car/

They collect your car (minus the number plates as you need to cancel your registration first), pass it on to auctioneers who sell it. The proceeds go to Kids Under Cover who use it in their work to combat youth homelessness. Your donation is even tax deductible!

Clean clothing in good condition (not underwear unless new with tags)

Avalon Centre
1936 Malvern Rd, Malvern East
– see their website for current needs
(alternatively most op shops)

Avalon goes out on a regular basis distributing clothes, bedding and warmth through work and interaction with the homeless.

Clothing not in good condition

Brotherhood of St Laurence and other charity op shops

Make a Wish Foundation has bins in many Westfield malls.

SCR Group Clothing dropoff – has bins next to several railway stations.

H&M clothing stores accept clothing in any condition.

Zara stores accept any kind of clothing or fabrics that you wish to recycle, as well as footwear, accessories and even jewelry.

UPparel – charge $35/10kg 

Shoes in badly worn condition – Tread Lightly – collection boxes in many sports and shoe stores 

Op shops pass them on to Melbourne Cleaning Cloths. Make A Wish Foundation passes them on to King Cotton Australia

H&M passes them on to their business partner I:CO who use them for rewear (as second-hand clothes), reuse (for other products such as cleaning cloths) or recycling (as textile fibres for things like insulation

Zara – 100% cotton, wool or polyester garments are recycled into new fabrics. Other clothing is turned into materials for the construction and automotive sectors. Garments that cannot be reused or recycled for reasons of hygiene, health and safety, or quality of the materials undergo a rigorous waste management procedure. ‘The aim of all these processes is to provide direct social support or to finance social projects that are developed or run by the non-profit organisations we work with.’

Tread Lightly takes sports shoes, thongs and slides, football boots, leather sports shoes, hiking boots, runners, gumboots, formal leather school shoes and work boots and recycles them. 

Clothing suitable for job interviews

Ready Set (not men’s suits)
24 Eastern Rd, South Melbourne
Tel. 9078 1750
OR
Groomed to Go / Dress for Success South East Melbourne Tel. 9770 0220
Shop 6/11 Station St Mall, Frankston
Donations Wednesday only 10am-3pm or call 9770 0220 to make an appointment

Pass them on to people who are unemployed and going for job interviews, or starting work in a new job and can’t yet afford to buy appropriate clothes

Computers & IT equipment

B2C Community IT Recyclers
– A social enterprise of The Werx Foundation, offering work experience and training to people with disabilities.
7 Lieber Grove, Carrum Downs
Tel 9005 0101
Mon- Fri    9.30AM-3.30PM
Equipment Recycling Network Inc (ERNi)
17 Greenwood Av, Ringwood
Tuesday and Thursday 9am-1pm
Tel. 9879 5211

Officeworks also has a free nationwide recycling service for TVs, computers, printers and computer peripherals.

B2C accepts computers, laptops, tablets, phones, IT equipment, TVs and monitors BUT NOT PRINTERS.  They re-use as much as possible, integrating PC components into refurbished computers. What can’t be re-used is dismantled into its constituent parts & sent for processing to responsible waste partners.

ERNi supports people with disabilities.

Corks

Reverse Art Truck (Ringwood & Narre Warren) Donations by appointment only.

The corks are sold for a low price at the their scrap-store, to resource and inspire arts and crafts projects. All income goes back into their programs, supporting creative and playful education, environmental sustainability and the development of this iconic, low-cost arts and educational resource.​

Cosmetics packaging

Terracycle recycling program – drop off at David Jones

Reverse Art Truck (Ringwood & Narre Warren) Donations by appointment only.

Terracycle accepts empty plastic bottles & pumps from skincare & hair care, empty foundation bottles, compacts, lipsticks & gloss, eyeshadow palettes, mascara, eye & brow liners, caps & tubes in regular, travel & sample sizes.

Reverse Art Truck accepts empty containers and boxes of all shapes and sizes, particularly pumps, bottles, caps and tubes.

DVDs, CDs, VHS, cassette tapes & cases, floppy disks

Any library in Stonnington or Glen Eira

Officeworks

Stonnington Waste Transfer Station
32 Weir St, Malvern

Monash Recycling & Waste Centre
380 Ferntree Gully Rd, Notting Hill

Recycle

Electrical items

Brotherhood of St Laurence
Tel. 1300 366 283
Second-hand working electrical items are accepted at Brotherhood stores. See also Whitegoods listing below for Fridges. 

Also Eastern Emergency Relief Network and West Welcome Wagon (see next entry below)

 

Electrical items are safety-tested before being passed on to needy clients or sold.

Furniture (in good condition) & whitegoods (in good working order) + lots more

Donate Direct

Eastern Emergency Relief Network EERN (Mitcham) – 9am to 1pm, Mon-Fri

Western Emergency Relief Network – WERN (Ravenhall)
Donations by appointment or volunteers can collect from Cities of Whitehorse, Manningham, Maroondah, Knox, Monash & Boroondara.
Call 0476 104 736

Brotherhood of St Laurence

West Welcome Wagon

Friends of Refugees (Springvale)

Donate Direct links to a charity of community service provider that needs your stuff for a disadvantaged individual they are assisting.

EERN & WERN provide emergency aid to those in need. 

West Welcome Wagon supports people seeking asylum.

Friends of Refugees collects all kinds of household furniture to assist people seeking asylum. 

Glasses (sight & reading)

Lions Recycle 4 Sight – approach your local Lions Club or – mail to:
Reply Paid 3021
Lions Recycle For Sight
PO Box 3021
Clontarf MDC 4019 

Cleans, grades and labels used spectacles for distribution in third world countries.

Hearing aids

Recycled Sound – c/- Rotary Club of Toorak, PO Box 42 Toorak 3142

SoundFair – 1 Hamilton Place Mt Waverley  Tel. 9510 1577

Lions Recycling for Sight Australia (see Glasses entry above – they also collect hearing aids)

Provide recycled hearing aids to disadvantaged people – single income families, working poor, unemployed, refugees and people seeking asylum.

Household goods in working order

Donate Direct

See also Furniture entry above and Something else to give awaybelow

Matches items being given away – televisions, computers, bedding, mobile phones, kitchen appliances and white goods – with charities and Community Service Providers who pass them on at no charge to disadvantaged people who need them.

Light globes – incandescent, compact fluorescent, downlight & fluorescent tubes

Libraries in Glen Eira have collection boxes for fluorescent light globes and tubes.

Stonnington Waste Transfer Station
32 Weir St, Malvern
Phone: 8290 1333
Open Mon to Fri 10am to 3:30pm
Sat 9-3 & Sun 10-3

Monash Recycling & Waste Centre
(also collect polystyrene)
380 Ferntree Gully Rd, Notting Hill
Tel. 9518 3555
7 days a week 7.30 am to 3 pm.

City of Whitehorse – see their website for dropoff points

Recycled through CMA Ecocycle or similar organisations.

Note: Handle fluorescent globes with great care – they contain mercury which can be very harmful to health.

Makeup, toiletries, dinner sets, cutlery, pots & pans, toasters, kettles – all new and unused

Impact for Women 
Warehouse at 14 George St, Sandringham – Check website home page for when there’s a wrap and pack shift there, or contact through PO Box 277, Glen Huntly 3163
See http://www.impactforwomen.org.au/bags-of-love-ideas.html for more ideas.

Avalon Centre – 1936 Malvern Rd, Malvern East

Impact for Women puts them into ‘bags of love’ to give to women escaping violent family situations.

The Avalon Centre distributes makeup and toiletries to people who are homeless.

Material/fabric (including sheets, doona covers, pillowslips, etc)

Boomerang Bags
(See their website  boomerangbags.org for your nearest dropoff point)

Reverse Art Truck (Ringwood & Narre Warren) Donations by appointment only.

Boomerang Bags upcycles the material by sewing it to make reusable shopping bags

Reverse Art Truck sells clean material & fabric for a low price at their scrap-store, to resource and inspire arts and crafts projects. All income goes back into Their programs, supporting creative and playful education, environmental sustainability and the development of this iconic, low-cost arts and educational resource

Mattresses

Drop off at the Port Phillip Resource Recovery Centre,
corner White & Boundary Streets, South Melbourne
OR
Fee-for-service collection: 
https://www.softlanding.com.au/ (a social enterprise) OR www.bedcollect.com.au

Break them down & use fabric to make carpet underlay & weed mats, timber frames for kindling and send springs to metal recyclers

Mobile phones (and landline phones)

 Aussie Recycling Program (ARP)
Factory 29, 260 Wickham Rd, Highett
Tel. 9532 1237
OR
MobileMuster
OR its collection points at mobile phone retailers or Officeworks or Woolworths. Mobile phones and accessories can be recycled through collection stations at Glen Eira libraries.

ARP recycles useable phones and on-sells them cheaply to third world countries, thus enabling people to afford a phone. Those that can’t be reused are dismantled and disposed of responsibly.

Through Mobilemuster over 95% of the materials in a mobile phone are recovered.

Musical instruments

Guitars Gathering Dust (Altona, Preston, Footscray)

Guitars Gathering Dust takes guitars in any condition, restores them and works with trusted music education providers that support children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Paint

Paintback – see paintback.com.au for closest location (eg Monash Recycling  & Waste Centre)

They separate packaging and waste liquid, then recycle containers and treat waste paint for energy recovery for solvent and liquid/solid separation for water-based paint.

Pens and markers, highlighters, correction tape & liquid paper

Officeworks 

Recycling

Plastic wrap

As at October 2023, and following the collapse of RedCycle, soft plastics can only be recycled in a few Council areas eg Monash Council has a collection site at the Monash Recycling & Waste Centre at 380 Ferntree Gully Road, Notting Hill. Hopefully more councils will join this scheme in the near future.

Use to make recycled plastic items such as park benches and furniture for schools and kindergartens.

Polystyrene

Monash Recycling & Waste Centre
– amounts up to ½ cubic metre are free.
380 Ferntree Gully Rd, Notting Hill
Tel. 9518 3555

Recycle it

Printer cartridges & toner bottles

Recycling boxes at Officeworks and participating Australia Post, Cartridge World, Harvey Norman, JB HiFi, The Good Guys, Office National stores and Office Products Depot outlets.  Businesses or departments using more than 3 cartridges per month can  register online for their FREE collection service.

They are recycled through Close the Loop, who have invented several technologies to safely shred & recycle ink & toner cartridges, toner bottles & other print consumables including in the manufacture of asphalt.

Sports equipment in reusable condition

Sports shoes:
Shoes for Planet Earth – see their website for dropoff points

Boots for All / Sport for all (Briar Hill)

Op shops

Shoes for Planet Earth provides sports shoes to those in need in Australia and overseas countries.

Boots for All/Sport for All distributes quality, new and near-new sporting equipment to vulnerable Australians to enable sport participation. 

Toiletries (unopened, eg from hotels, airlines)

West Welcome Wagon

Avalon Centre – 1936 Malvern Rd, Malvern East

West Welcome Wagon provides for people seeking asylum

The Avalon Centre distributes them to people who are homeless.

Towels, blankets, flat sheets, pillowcases, face washers

If towels, blankets, sheets etc are in excellent condition, try West Welcome Wagon, Eastern Emergency Relief Network , The Avalon Centre, Donate Direct, or op shops

Otherwise:
RSPCA Adoption Centres 
3 Burwood Hwy, Burwood East

RSPCA uses these for bedding and other requirements for animals in their care.

Uniforms

Kids off the Kerb uniform recycling project

Arranges for uniforms to be securely shredded and the material re-used where possible

Used stamps (from envelopes)

Australian Chapter of Lions International Stamp Club (LISC)
PO Box 3240 Asquith 2077 or
PO Box 9399 Pacific Paradise 4564 or
ask your local Lions Club who may accept donations to send on to these addresses.

Trim and sort stamps, then send to Sydney auctions. Every cent raised is donated to the Australian Lions Children’s Mobility Foundation to purchase walking frames for children born with cerebral palsy.

Xrays

Stonnington & Glen Eira Councils collect these at libraries.

Monash Recycling & Waste Centre also accepts them.

X-ray recycling mainly aims to recover silver from both films and chemicals. The silver is then sold into the precious metals market.

Residual chemicals are handled according to EPA requirements. Where possible they are recycled, or neutralised and disposed of as trade waste.

Something else to give away?

Advertise your second-hand freebies on one of the following websites with a photo.

Could be just what someone wants:

au.ziilch.com (note ii)

www.freecycle.org

Facebook: free stuff Melbourne

Facebook marketplace

www.ozrecycle.com (website undergoing maintenance Sept. 2023)

www.gumtree.com.au

If you find any issues with any of these, or have any more to add, please email your suggestions using our Contact form.
See also: Sustainability Victoria’s website for links to your local council’s waste and recycling services, and TerraCycle or Space&Time  for recycling of various other products.

   The amount of electricity saved by recycling a single aluminium can is enough to run the average television set for three hours.
– Clean Up Australia