Each year Reverse Garbage collects over 8000 cubic metres (this amount is growing every year)of reusable off-cuts, over-runs and rejected material. This is from over 500 supporting small, medium and large businesses, manufacturers and government institutions throughout Sydney, the Central Coast and the Illawarra.

We bring these materials back to our Marrickville Re-use Centre to be sorted and made available to creative people.

Our customers include teachers and students (from primary and secondary schools, TAFEs and universities), artists, community groups, window dressers, small and home-based businesses, theatre groups, retirees and home renovators.

Reverse Garbage provides jobs for around 20 staff who coordinate, collect, sort, sell and advise customers on how to use materials in fun, imaginative and practical ways.

Why re-use?

Who benefits?

• Companies save money by reducing their waste disposal costs.
• Employees feel good about their company when good materials are not thrown away, but are put back into their community.
• The amount going into landfill is reduced, benefiting the environment and saving money for local authorities by extending the life of landfill sites.
• A huge range of people are given access to affordable resources.
• The community benefits as jobs are created from materials that would have been buried forever

Drop-Offs: To help facilitate donations, we encourage drop-offs to the center, preferably by appointment. All donations are assessed upon arrival.
Drop off times are:
Mon-Sat: 9am-4pm
Sun: 10am-3pm

Reverse Garbage is a not-for-profit community co-operative specialising in waste reduction through resource recovery for creative community re-use. We pick up clean industrial discards and sell them to the public at our warehouse in Marrickville.

We'll pick up items at no charge to you - get rid of left over stock, seconds, or by-products and other items that would normally cost you a small fortune to dispose of.

How to arrange a collection?

If you think you have some reusable material, call us. We'll ask you some questions about the kind of material, quantity, location and accessibility. Our staff will assess your materials' re-use potential over the phone, or arrange an inspection if we are not sure. If it is suitable, we'll collect from your premises or accept delivery to our Re-use Centre.

We have two trucks and drivers that run scheduled pick-up routes. We normally collect materials when we have a truck in the area, though we can also pick-up by arrangement.

Regular pick-ups can be arranged for suitable materials or alternatively, you can give us a call when sufficient volume has built up. We can tailor arrangements to suit your special circumstances.

For examples of what we pick up please go to Materials We Pick Up. As a general guide to materials that we accept please remember the following points:

Separated

Reuseable

Clean and safe

Quantity

Location & accessibility

To make it economical for us to pick up and safe for our drivers, materials must be easily accessible, preferably ground floor and there must be suitable parking close to the materials. If the materials are bulky and heavy we will require help in loading, or alternatively, we can provide 2 pairs of hands.


Look after your business by looking after the environment and cutting down on waste disposal costs. We resource lots of schools and charities with arts and crafts supplies so you’ll be helping the community too.

Our trucks operate 5 days a week.

Call us on 02 9569 3132 and ask for the Operations Manager

Materials We Pick Up

Here are some examples of the types of things we pick up:

Plastic and foam:

Perspex, foam, cut-outs, polypropylene, gasket punchouts, vinyl, O-rings, acetate, expanded polystyrene (sheets and blocks), containers, neoprene, eva skins, stickybacks, closed cell foam.

Paper and cardboard:

Good boxes (all sizes- depending what we have in stock already), coloured paper, white paper (rolls and sheets), cardboard sheets, gold and silver paper, cardboard cones, mount board.

Building Materials:

Tiles, pavers, de-nailed timber, carpet, vinyl.

Computer parts:

Working computers including P2-P4's, Macs, Laptops, Circuit boards, keyboards, power supplies.

Containers:

Fibre drums, plastic drums, boxes (flattened).

Display materials:

Mannequins, decorations, display items, corflute, signage, coloured contact.

Fabric:

Rolls, swatches, sample books, stripping, fake fur, felt, large fabric offcuts.

Gifts and Knick-knacks:

Anything! (In resonable condition).

Haberdashery:

Zippers, buttons, thread, belts, clips, shoulder pads, braid, ribbon.

Leather:

Belts, rolls, skins, offcuts (larger than hand size).

Metals:

Punchouts, shelving brackets, wire.

Office furniture:

Anything in reasonable condition.

Other:

Springs, wheels, rubber, audio and video cassettes, moulds, scourer offcuts, wool, games, knobs, cushion or toy filler, toys, trinkets.

Props and Costumes:

Theatre props, costumes, set pieces, wigs, fake jewellery.

Stationery:

Envelopes, office stationary, folders, document holders etc.

Theatre Sets & Materials:

Flats, columns, treads, staging pieces, plinths, lighting gels, cradles.

Wood:

Denailed timber, MDF, laminated particle board, veneer, spools, frames, plywood.

For more information on how to arrange a pick up please go to Free Waste Disposal.