Sort & Save

If you sort your waste before your visit to Summerhill Waste Management Centre, you can recycle these items at no charge*:

  • Cardboard: Clean, dry, flattened cardboard. No waxed cardboard. No packaging material (such as polystyrene foam, packing beads/peanuts, plastic wrap), box straps or excessive tape.
  • Scrap metal: Including BBQs, bikes, car parts, hot water heaters and white goods (fees apply for fridges, freezers and air-conditioners).
  • Clean, untreated wood: Dry, solid timber that has not been painted, stained or treated. Examples include pallets, crates and offcuts. Please see our Clean Wood Wastes overview for detail.
  • Soft plastic: Clean, flexible plastic, such as plastic bags, packaging, mail satchels and bubble wrap. No food waste, strapping or tape.
  • E-waste: Accepted electrical waste items such as small appliances, computers, TVs and electric tools. Maximum of 10 items per visit.
  • Recyclable food and beverage containers: Glass bottles and jars, aluminium and steel cans, plastic bottles and containers.

*Free service for Newcastle households only. Terms and conditions apply (please see below).

Download our Sort & Save (PDF 885kB) flyer for service details.

Frequently asked questions

Through our Sort & Save service, you can:

✓ Save money – the more we can recover, the less you’ll pay.
✓ Save time – quickly unload different materials at the designated collection points during your visit.
✓ Save our environment – help us to recover resources and keep waste out of landfill.

Sorting means separating items into ‘like’ groups in your car, ute or trailer—such as putting scrap metal in a separate pile to cardboard—rather than having them combined.

Taking a little extra time to pack your waste items before you leave home can make a difference to how much you’ll pay for disposal. It helps our team members to quickly identify what materials can be recovered from your waste load free of charge.

You can use the service as often as you like during regular opening hours. No booking is required.

You'll still unpack your car or trailer undercover at our Resource Recovery Centre, but you'll pay regular (mixed load) disposal charges.

These charges cover the cost for our staff and equipment to extract any recyclable materials from your waste load, plus the disposal costs for any materials that can’t be salvaged.

Our Sort and Save service is only available at no charge if you live within the Newcastle LGA (domestic customers only).

If you're not a Newcastle resident, or you're a commercial customer, you can still take advantage of our differential pricing structure for source separated loads.

  • You must sort your items prior to arrival to drop off the accepted items at no charge.
  • You can drop off up to 10 items of e-waste per visit.
  • The service is only available at no charge to residents of the Newcastle LGA (domestic customers only). Proof of residency—such as a curent driver licence—is required.
  • Regular disposal charges apply for unsorted (mixed waste) loads, items not listed above and for all other customers. Differential pricing is available for source separated loads.
  • You must wear fully enclosed shoes. Fully enclosed means covering all of the foot, up to the ankle, with no heel or toe holes (for example, no sandals or thongs).