Bookmark these websites: Sustainability and recycling in Australia
Give your unwanted items a second life.
Recycling in Australia can sometimes feel confusing, especially when you are not sure where unwanted items should go. Many everyday household items and textiles still have value, even when they are no longer useful to us. With the right systems in place, they can be reused, repurposed, or responsibly recycled instead of ending up in landfill.
In this post, I’ll feature a growing and evolving list of Australian organisations and businesses that are helping close the gap between landfill and recycling. From donating usable goods to recycling end-of-life textiles, these services make it easier to give unwanted items a meaningful second life while supporting people, communities, and the environment.
I will continue to add to this list over time, so feel free to check back regularly. You can also sign up for my monthly newsletter to receive updates, new resources, and practical tips on clothing sustainability and recycling unwanted household items.
Subscribe and stay in the loop
RECYCLING NEAR YOU
Find out how to recycle almost anything across Australia
Recycling Near You is a free, easy-to-use online recycling directory designed to help Australians work out where unwanted items can be reused, repurposed or responsibly recycled — not sent to landfill. It’s especially useful for items that can’t go in your kerbside bin, such as electronics, batteries, textiles, soft plastics, paint, coffee pods and more.
With Recycling Near You, you can search by item type and your location to find nearby businesses, councils, drop-off points and specialised recycling services that accept specific materials. This includes detailed information on national recycling schemes like the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme and other stewardship programs that make it simple to recycle items such as televisions, computers, mobile phones, cartridges and batteries.
Whether you’re trying to recycle coffee capsules, old electronics, textiles or other hard-to-dispose-of goods, Recycling Near You helps you discover the correct local recycling options so your unwanted items can be given a second life.
Bookmark this website: recyclingnearyou.com.au
RESMART
Smarter recycling and reuse of hard-to-recycle items
ReSmart (formerly RecycleSmart) is an innovative Australian recycling and reuse organisation making it easy for households, businesses and councils to keep unwanted items out of landfill. By combining technology with practical solutions, ReSmart provides on-demand pickup services for a wide range of materials that are often tricky to recycle — from soft plastics, textiles and e-waste to batteries, polystyrene and more than 100 other item types — and connects them with appropriate reuse, repair, recycling or repurposing pathways.
Since its beginnings in 2019, ReSmart has built a strong network of partners and expanded its services, helping divert millions of kilograms of resources from landfill and making sustainability easier for everyday Australians. Their approach includes full traceability of materials, real-time impact tracking, flexible pickup options and ongoing innovation to scale up recycling solutions across communities and industries.
ReSmart is all about turning hard-to-recycle waste into opportunities for reuse, remanufacturing and environmental benefit, helping households and organisations take genuine action on waste reduction and circular economy goals.
Bookmark this website: resmart.co
UPPAREL
When clothes reach the end of their life, UPPAREL closes the loop
Sometimes clothes genuinely reach the end of their life. They’re worn out, damaged, or simply no longer usable and for many people, that means they’re destined for landfill. While most of us don’t have the time or desire to upcycle textiles into new fabric or creatively repurpose them the way I do, there is a simple, responsible solution.
UPPAREL makes it easy to recycle unwanted clothing and textiles so nothing goes to waste. Through their unique reuse and recycling model, every item collected is reused, repurposed, or recycled within their closed-loop system, with absolutely nothing sent to landfill. Around 40% of items are still fit to wear and are carefully sorted and passed on to trusted charity partners, while the remaining textiles are transformed by local makers or recycled into UPtex, an innovative material that is fully recyclable at the end of its life.
By recycling textiles with UPPAREL, you’re not only clearing space at home, you’re helping tackle the textile waste crisis. For every kilogram of textiles diverted from landfill, an average of 3–4 kilograms of greenhouse gases are prevented from entering the atmosphere. It’s a practical, accessible way to ensure even end-of-life textiles are given a responsible second chapter, keeping waste out of landfill and helping close the loop on fashion waste.
Bookmark this website: upparel.com.au/clothing-recycling
GIVIT
Give your unwanted items a meaningful second life
GIVIT is a brilliant way to donate items you no longer need and give them a worthy second life. By connecting generous Australians with people who genuinely need help, GIVIT keeps useful items out of landfill while making a real difference in someone else’s life.
GIVIT is a national not-for-profit that works directly with councils, charities, recovery teams and community groups to match real needs with meaningful donations. Through their easy-to-use online platform, you can choose to donate goods, money or time, supporting families recovering from bushfires, people affected by domestic and family violence, or individuals living with disability. It’s a simple, thoughtful way to reduce waste, support your community and ensure your unwanted items are put to good use, exactly where they’re needed most.
Bookmark this website: givit.com.au
SHOES FOR PLANET EARTH
Giving sports shoes a second life.
Shoes for Planet Earth is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that gives unwanted sports and running shoes a meaningful second life. Established in 2009 by a group of passionate runners, the organisation works with local communities to redistribute recycled sports shoes to people in need across Australia and overseas, keeping usable footwear out of landfill while supporting health, movement, and dignity.
Through generous shoe and financial donations, Shoes for Planet Earth has helped provide support to more than 80,000 people in over 18 countries. Donated shoes are passed on to homeless shelters, youth and women’s crisis centres, Indigenous sporting groups, orphanages, churches, and communities impacted by floods and other disasters. While international shipping is currently limited, most donations now support Australian communities, with donors connected directly to local charities for drop-off or delivery. It’s a practical and impactful way to recycle sports shoes and ensure they continue to support people who need them most.
Bookmark this website: shoesforplanetearth.com
TREAD LIGHTLY
Recycling sports and active lifestyle footwear in Australia
TreadLightly is a national recycling initiative that brings together the Australian sporting and active lifestyle community to reduce its environmental footprint. Working across sports codes, brands, retailers, manufacturers, athletes and consumers, TreadLightly provides a practical local solution to the growing global waste problem, making it easier for all of us to tread lightly.
Through a simple drop-off system, unwanted sports and active lifestyle footwear can be placed into collection units located at more than 900 participating retailers across Australia. From there, shoes are given a new and meaningful life through reuse and recycling pathways that help keep them out of landfill. Backed by a history of industry-led waste reduction dating back to 2008, TreadLightly empowers individuals and businesses to take real action, with the shared goal of recycling one million pairs of sports and active lifestyle shoes.