Wondering how you can make positive changes for our planet? Our retailers are right there with you.

To make it easy, we've created the ultimate guide to some of the sustainable recycling initiatives and planet-loving programs your favourite brands are participating in so you can make a conscious choice to go greener this year. Not only do these brands offer a convenient in-store recycling service, some will even reward you for getting involved.

Take charge of your e-waste footprint

As we continue to upgrade our tech devices more often, it has never been more important (or more accessible) to responsibly recycle any unwanted devices. These are the brands near you that offer convenient recycling opportunities to lower the environmental impact of e-waste on our planet.

ALDI

ALDI was the first supermarket in Australia to offer a national battery recycling service. Batteries sit in landfill, leaking toxic materials into the environment when not recycled properly. Since 2013, ALDI has been helping reduce the number of batteries that end up in landfill each year.

Drop off your used household batteries into the B-cycle recycling bin located at the front of the ALDI store.

Find out some helpful tips for safe battery recycling here.

Big W

Since October 2022, BIG W has collected 54,436 kg of batteries and 459 kg of phones recycled. Big W has partnered with Ecobatt to offer a household battery and mobile phone recycling service.
This free service can be located at the front of the store with a dedicated recycling unit to drop off your phones, batteries and accessories.

Find out more of about the program and what batteries can be recycled here.

Coles

Recycling household batteries is an important solution to the growing waste problems in Australia. It’s important that batteries are disposed of correctly to prevent the risk of fire, choking, and leakage of hazardous materials into the surrounding environment.

Coles has partnered with Close the Loop and Ecobatt to provide battery collection units into their stores. Visit your local Coles to dispose of your household batteries.

Find out more of about the program and what batteries can be recycled here.

JB Hi-Fi

JB Hi-Fi strive to minimise the waste we create, and encourages the responsible recycling of cardboard, paper, expanded polystyrene, timber, e-waste, and plastics. They can also help you recycle your old, broken, or unwanted devices through our in-store and home collection recycling programs.

Recycle your small electronics in-store in the bin located near the counter. Small electronics include: laptops, tablets, monitors, headphones, hair dryers, stick vacuums, and blenders.

Find out more information here.

IKEA

IKEA tackle planet-sized problems with people-sized solutions. They want to empower people to live more sustainably, so they’re focusing on affordable products that are both resource and energy efficient.

IKEA North Lakes offers recycling disposal bins near the exit for:
-Paper and cardboard

-Incandescent and LED bulbs

-Fluorescent tubes

-Batteries

Telstra

With over 500,000 devices recycled since their partnership with Mobile Muster began, it’s never been easier to take part in Telstra’s mobile recycling program. Simply head in-store and recycle your device at the drop-off point, or you can even trade in your old device for a more affordable upgrade.

Head instore or find out more here.

Return and recycle

Before you toss it in the bin, there may be a better place for it. From old clothes and shoes to beauty products, toys, sports balls and even blister packs, discover simple ways to return, recycle and repurpose everyday items — giving them a second life and helping reduce what ends up in landfill.

Big W

Launched in 2022, Toys for Joy is the first recycling program of its kind and aims to reduce landfill by recycling eligible, preloved toys. Collection points are available in every BIG W store and it’s so easy to get involved. Simply round up your eligible toys and drop them into the Toys for Joy chest at your local Big W store. Your donations then get passed on to the team at Terracycle to divert these items from ending up in landfill.

Drop yours off today at Big W or find out more here.

Image source: Big W

Chemist Warehouse

Did you know you can recycle your empty medicine blister packs at Chemist Warehouse?
Through a nationwide partnership with Pharmacycle, Chemist Warehouse stores across Australia offer dedicated collection bins where customers can drop off their empty blister packs.

The program has already made a significant impact, with more than 50 million blister packs recycled through Chemist Warehouse stores by 2026, helping to divert hard-to-recycle packaging from landfill and give these materials a second life.

Visit Chemist Warehouse to recycle your empty medicine blister packs today.

Dan Murphy's

Dan Murphy’s has launched Australia’s first large-scale natural cork stopper recycling program in partnership with cork distributor Amorim Australasia and recycling initiative Save Our Soles. The ReCORK program, now live across all stores nationwide, addresses the challenges traditionally faced when recycling natural cork stoppers by repurposing them into mats to be used in store by staff.

Recycle your corks instore at Dan Murphy's today.

IKEA

Sell your eligible pre-loved IKEA furniture back at any time of the year and get an IKEA refund card. Enjoy savings on your next IKEA purchase, while your used furniture finds a new home.

Find out more information here.

Missing a leg for your sofa? Need an extra hinge?
Don't worry, IKEA has got your back, with over 4,000 spare parts. Order spare sparts for your IKEA furniture in-store or online.

Find out more information here.

Lush

Whilst we all know and love Lush's bath bombs, soaps and other yummy skincare goodies, the brand has had a proud tradition of swimming against the tide and supporting groups and causes they truly believe in, such as ethical buying, fighting against animal testing and offering preservative-free cosmetics.
All Lush polypropylene plastic product pots are made from 100% recycled materials. Simply return 5 empty pots to your local Lush shop to be recycled once more and you'll be rewarded with a free fresh face mask of your choice. Find out more here.

Image source: @lush_ausnz

MECCA

To ensure your beauty empties don’t end up in landfill, Mecca have partnered with TerraCycle®, the global leader in recycling the ‘unrecyclable’. Rather than throwing away your used empties, the TerraCycle® program accept these hard to recycle items, ready to be sorted, processed and transformed into something new (and just as beautiful).

All MECCA stores have an in-store TerraCycle® bin that’s made from 100 percent post-consumer waste, including some from the 150,000 empty beauty containers our customers and team members have already recycled through TerraCycle®. So next time you reach the end of your favourite beauty product, head into your local MECCA store and pop your empties into the labelled bin (or pass them on to a team member at the registers), and they’ll take care of the rest.

Head instore or find out more here.

Myer

Myer has exclusively launched a recycling cookware campaign with internationally recognised homeware brand Tefal in 2022.
Myer at Westfield North Lakes has a dedicated cookware recycling drop-off station in-store.

Visit Myer in store today.

Oscar Wylee

Have a pair of glasses you no longer use? Give them a second life with Oscar Wylee. Oscar Wylee collects unwanted glasses in-store and works with organisations including Lions Recycle for Sight and other recycling centres to ensure they are donated, reused or recycled wherever possible. Through Lions Recycle for Sight, suitable glasses can be refurbished and distributed to communities in need, while frames that are no longer suitable for reuse can be directed to recycling. It’s a simple way to give your old eyewear a second life while making a more sustainable choice.

Donate your old glasses in-store today.

Rebel

At Rebel, they get you. They know you want to do your part for a more sustainable planet, and they feel the same way. The team at Rebel are taking steps so that their shoes, apparel and sporting goods have a lower impact from production to the moment they are finally disposed of.

Rebel are proud to partner with TreadLightly's Sports Ball Recycling Program, that provides collection and recycling services for sports balls, making it easier to responsibly dispose of the products you no longer use and keeping the materials in the economy, and out of landfills. There are collection bins in many of the Rebel stores.

With their partner, TreadLightly, Rebel also offer a shoe recycling program. The in-store drop off bins collect unwanted sports shoes, and responsibly recycles them into useful products like gym mats, floors and playgrounds.

Visit Rebel to recycle your sports balls and sports shoes today.

Sephora

Sephora have partnered with TerraCycle® to recycle your empty beauty products and earn Beauty Pass points for each empty product recycled. Recycle any brand of cosmetic, hair care or skin care packaging that are empty.

Simply head to the register at your local Sephora and find a Sephora Cast Member where they will take your empty beauty products and apply your Beauty Pass points.

Find out more on what you can recycle here.

Sportsgirl

Sportsgirl has partnered with UPPAREL to give unwanted textiles a second life through reuse and recycling. Send back clothing, shoes, linen and other textiles by purchasing a collection from $35 for up to 10 kg, and receive a $25 Sportsgirl voucher as a thank you.

Find out more on what textiles they accept and to book your collection here.

Woolworths

Give your soft plastics a second life! Return your clean and dry household soft plastics to dedicated recycling bins located at the front of over 700 participating stores.

In partnership with Soft Plastics Stewardship Australia (SPSA), your soft plastics will be recycled into new products such as building materials and food grade packaging, helping to create a circular economy.

Find out more here.

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Keep up the good work

Explore more about our sustainability progress and how you can be involved with local initiatives at our home of News for Better.