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.

Melbourne Gemach – contact Rochi in Ripponlea 0413 956 384

Donate Direct

Op shops

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 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

Any Bicycle Super Store *(eg 1030 Dandenong Rd, Carnegie).

Adult size bikes, BMX bikes and children’s bikes 24″ or larger go 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.

*NOTE: Bicycles for Humanity are not collecting at the moment while they are looking for a new storage site (updated September 2022)

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

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

 

Bras, new or preloved in good condition

 

Support the Girls – dropoff locations only in Brisbane, Gold Coast, NSW & Canberra atm. See their checklist online.

NB Uplift Project – no longer collects in Australia

‘Empower women with dignity and respect’ by providing bras to vulnerable and disadvantaged women.

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

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 $25/10kg and then give you a $25 credit towards purchases from them.

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.

Clothing suitable for job interviews

Ready Set – 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

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

Nucleus Computer Donations
107 Grange Rd, Carnegie

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
Mon- Fri    9.30AM-3.30PM
Check website for current dropoff times, or phone 9005-0101 for appointment.

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

Equipment Recycling Network Inc (ERNi)
17 Greenwood Av, Ringwood
Tuesday and Thursday 9am-1pm
Tel. 9879 5211

Nucleus Computer Donations sends donations of computers, laser printers and mobile phones to needy international communities to support their schools, education and vocations.

 

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) 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)

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 cosmetics packaging, 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 Waste Transfer and Recycling Station
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 resale.

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

Donate Direct

Eastern Emergency Relief Network (Mitcham)

Western Emergency Relief Network – WERN (Ravenhall)
Donations can be delivered to their warehouse 9am to 1pm Monday to Friday or volunteers can collect from Cities of Whitehorse, Manningham, Maroondah, Knox, Monash & Boroondara.

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 provides emergency aid to those in need. See their About us  page.

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 
OR
to ReSpecs via
Temple Beth Israel, 76-82 Alma Rd, St Kilda
OR
Care With Quality, 62 Rosstown Rd, Carnegie

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

 

Respecs removes the lenses and sends frames to Israel to provide glasses for those in need.

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 Waste Transfer
(also collect polystyrene)
380 Ferntree Gully Rd, Notting Hill
Tel. 9518 3767
7 days a week 7.30 am To 4 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
impactforwomen@gmail.com 
PO Box 217, Glen Huntly 3163
See http://www.impactforwomen.org.au/bags-of-love-ideas.html for more ideas

Put them into ‘bags of love’ to give to women escaping violent family situations.

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)

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
mobile phone retailers or Officeworks

Landline phones and mobiles 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.

Musical instruments

Guitars Gathering Dust (Altona, Preston, Footscray)

Guitars Gathering Dust take guitars in any condition, restore them and work with trusted music education providers that support children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Paint

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

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

Officeworks – selected stores collect these for recycling. Looking to roll out the program nationally over the next year.

Recycling

Plastic wrap

Coles and Woolworths have collection bins for these at the front of their stores. This is passed on to RedCycle. NB only GLAD, Coles Home brand and Woolworths Essentials Home Brand cling wrap can be accepted. See https://www.redcycle.net.au/what-to-redcycle/ for a comprehensive list of what can and can’t be recycled.

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

Polystyrene

Monash Waste Transfer
– amounts up to ½ cubic metre are free.
380 Ferntree Gully Rd, Notting Hill
Tel. 9518 3767

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.

Sports equipment in reusable condition

Tennis balls & racquets:
Kids Tennis Foundation
Tel. 9510 9165

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

See also www.bootsforall.org.au

Op shops

KTA provides racquets and tennis balls for disadvantaged children throughout Australia.

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

Boots for All used to distribute quality, new and near-new sporting equipment to vulnerable Australians to enable sport participation. Not sure if they are still operating.

Toiletries (unopened, eg from hotels, airlines)

West Welcome Wagon

Provide for people seeking asylum

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)

Women of the University Fund
The Mews, Government House Grounds
1 Government House Drive
Melbourne 3004
(email wufmews@gmail.com)

OR

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 sell to local stamp dealers and stamp collectors. Funds raised are used for educational and social social support for disadvantaged children.

Whitegoods – especially fridges, freezers, washing machines & dryers

Whitegoods Refurbishment & Recycling Program (Kids off the Kerb)
Currently collects from residents in the City of Whittlesea,  (call 9982 5600), and from the cities of Hume, Yarra & Bacchus Marsh transfer stations. Alternatively white goods can be dropped off at their factory at 9 Dunstans Court, Thomastown.

Train young people to test, repair and clean the used whitegoods & electronics. Refurbished goods are sold with proceeds going back into the program. Otherwise they are used for spare parts or scrap metal recycling.

Xrays

Stonnington & Glen Eira Councils collect these at libraries.

Monash Waste Transfer Station 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. 2022)

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