About the service
The doorstep recycling service is providing City of Sydney residents with a free and easy way to recycle tricky items that don’t belong in kerbside rubbish or recycling bins. SCRgroup is contracted by the City of Sydney to run the collection service.
Residents who live in the City of Sydney’s local area. We do not accept items from local businesses.
Yes! If you live in an apartment building with secure access, you can leave your bags outside near the entry or letterboxes. Or if you’re home, leave them in the lobby and buzz the driver in. You can leave instructions for the driver in your booking form.
- Confirm you live in the City of Sydney’s area
- Check your items can be collected
- Book a collection online or call (02) 9066 5833.
- Prepare your items for collection
- Place your bags outside before 8am on your collection day. We’ll send you an SMS reminder.
- A driver will come by to collect your items before 3pm. You’ll receive an SMS message when items are collected
- The driver will leave your empty sturdy reusable bags where you left them – don’t forget to retrieve them. The thinner plastic shopping bags will not be left behind.
- Your preloved items are collected and sorted by our friendly team members and processed by various local service providers, contributing towards a circular economy.
Yes, subject to availability, households can book a collection once a week.
No, the doorstep recycling service is for small items that are tricky to recycle. The bulky council pick-up is for large items like furniture, whitegoods, large electronic items and mattresses.
The City of Sydney contracts SCRgroup to deliver the doorstep recycling service to residents. SCRgroup is a registered Australian company that works with charities and social enterprises to provide various collection and recycling programs.
Items we accept
Please see what we collect section on the How it works page
No, this service is for small items that fit into a reusable shopping bag only. For larger items, please book in a pick-up with the City of Sydney
Worn and torn clothing and textiles are accepted.
Bookings and collections
Book a collection online or call (02) 9066 5833.
Please separate your items into 2 categories:
- Clothes, bed linen, fashion accessories and toys (please remove batteries and place toys in their own soft plastic bag within the clothing bag)
- All other items including electronics, light bulbs, x-rays, polystyrene, batteries (please tape ends), printer cartridges, paint (2L), mobile phones etc.
Please place coffee pods and batteries into their own clear soft plastic bags for safety and to prevent leaks.
Write a note “Doorstep recycling service” and attach it to the bags so your neighbours know it’s being collected.
If you need to change or cancel your booking, log into your account or call SCRgroup on (02) 9066 5833.
You must put out a minimum of 2 bags for collection. You can put out as many items/bags as you like, just make sure they can fit into a reusable bag and are accepted by the service.
Put your items out before 8am on your collection day.
- Clothes, linen and toys in good condition are donated to charity or reused in communities around the world that need them most.
- Polystyrene is compressed and recycled into products such as building insultation and photo frames.
- Electronics are sorted and broken down into various materials for recycling. Batteries can be recycled into new ones. Mobile phone components can be used to make new technology, reducing the need for mining raw materials.
- Light bulbs are crushed and the glass wool can become home insulation.
- X-rays have the silver removed and turned into new silver products, like jewellery and the remaining film is added to road-base bitumen.
- Coffee pods are separated for their resources. Coffee grounds are composted. The aluminium casings can be infinitely recycled into new products.
- Printer cartridge recycling recovers the plastics, metals, ink and toner. Plastics are separated by type before being refined and metals are sent for smelting. They are then sold as raw materials for manufacturing. Ink is refined, mixed and sold as printing ink.
- Blister packs are shredded, grinded and mechanically separated into their component parts. The plastic is used to make decking products and the foil is turned into aluminium pucks, used by steel manufacturers during the steel-making process.
Something went wrong
If items were left in your bag, they are likely not accepted. SCRgroup will contact you with more information.
If you forget to put out your bags, SCRgroup will be in touch with you to reschedule your booking.
If your bags aren’t picked up before 3pm on your scheduled day, contact SCRgroup at [email protected] or (02) 9066 5833 for a response as soon as possible.