Getting rid of those hard to recycle items can be as easy as leaving it outside your door. Photo: ReSmart.
How smart are you about recycling?
Most of us have got the basics pretty well down pat, thanks to that yellow bin that’s always hungry for our used bottles, cans, paper and pizza boxes.
But what we’re not so good at is recycling those things that can’t go in the yellow bin – batteries, plastics, foam, old mobiles and computer equipment.
It takes a lot more effort, time and knowledge to properly dispose of those goods and unfortunately there are too few people prepared to invest the energy.
However, a company new to Wollongong removes the guesswork out of how and what can be recycled, as well as removing the recyclables directly from your home or business.
ReSmart is the brainchild of Marco Prayer and Giorgio Baracchi, who started the business as RecyleSmart in September 2019.
Marketing coordinator Tina Davidovic said the pair started in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, picking up items from doorsteps.
“They were just frustrated seeing the amount of waste that was going into landfills rather than getting recycled,” she said.
“They had their first household doorstep pilot in the Northern Beaches and started partnering with councils.”
Since then the business has gone nationwide, apart from the Northern Territory, partnering with 29 councils.
It took five years to reach the magic one million kilograms of waste saved from landfills but just a year to reach two million.
ReSmart accepts more than 100 items for collection, including soft plastics, clothing, electronics, sports gear, small appliances, kitchenware and batteries – they say if it’s dry and your bin doesn’t want it, they do.
It then works with partner organisations to reuse or recycle the waste and ReSmart says 98 per cent of what it collects is saved from landfill.
Soft plastics can be turned back into oil or asphalt additive, wearable clothes are donated to local charities, while gold, silver, copper and rare earth metals are extracted from e-waste.
“By offering convenient and accessible recycling solutions for challenging items, our mission is to empower everyone to contribute to waste reduction and environmental protection,” Giorgio said.
Households can organise a monthly pick-up for $19 or an on-demand service for a bigger cleanout.
Businesses are supplied with a “tricky recyclables” bin which can be used for all the household items as well as printer cartridges, coffee capsules, lightbulbs and vapes.
Tina said the company hoped to expand its collection area in the Illawarra, which is initially on offer in the following suburbs:
- Albion Park
- Shellharbour
- Port Kembla
- Warilla
- Shell Cove
- Thirroul
- Bulli
- Bellambi
- Corrimal
- Wollongong
- Unanderra
- Dapto
The company is also looking for drivers to collect the recyclables from homes and businesses.
Tina said there were no requirements for vehicle size.
“We’d love drivers to have a van, the bigger the better, but it’s more about their availability,” she said.
“It’s quite flexible. The shifts start from 8 am and you just need to have a full Australian driver’s licence.
“You don’t need to deal with any smelly garbage or anything like that, because the items are usually packed in a bag or a box and the driver will collect that from the person’s doorstep, and take the items to a consolidation point where they do all the manual sorting.
“We’ve had a lot of people from Wollongong asking if we service there – every day there’s always people from more regional or coastal areas – but it really is down to just the amount of drivers that we have.”
For more information about what ReSmart collects and how to join, or driving vacancies, click here.
