The Staff at Recyclit have had to deal with a 'spike' in needles within the recycling kerbside pickup over the last 2 weeks.

The workers at the Material Handling Facility sort through the material by hand and are exposed to sharps injury when the materials are contaminated.

The types of Sharps that have been disposed incorrectly are;

• Needles – hollow needles used to inject drugs (medication) under the skin.
• Syringes – devices used to inject medication into or withdraw fluid from the body.
• Lancets, also called “fingerstick” devices – instruments with a short, two-edged blade used to get drops of blood for testing.

Sharps of any kind do not belong in the garbage or recycling – they can injure garbage collectors and other workers.

Collection days of Wednesday and Thursday have seen the largest numbers of sharps coming in to the facility.
We're working with Gunnedah Workshop Enterprises to ask the residents of Gunnedah to be more aware of the items you place in your Recycling Bins every week.

To dispose of Sharps correctly, please place them in Community Public Sharps bins at

• Vernados Car Park, Little Barber Street (behind Bitter Suite Coffee Shop).
• Water Pump Station Opposite Rugby Park on Wandobah Road.
• Waste Management Facility 418 Quia Road Gunnedah.

Containers less then 1.4litres are acceptable for these bins.

Location of bins is not permanent.

Single use bins are located at:

• Brocks court, Wolseley Park (mounted on toilet block)
• Mornington Park, Anzac Parade (mounted on toilet block)
• Gunnedah Community Health
• Gunnedah Hospital
• Hagley/Osmond Chemist
• Karen Carter Chemist
• O’Keefe Pavilion in Wolseley park.