However, many of us still have old x-rays tucked away in drawers and cupboards around the house. While they cannot be placed in your yellow kerbside recycling bin they can still be easily recycled.

Why you should recycle x-rays

There are two key reasons why we should recycle old x-rays.

1. X-rays consist of two main parts – a PET plastic backing film and a silver imaging layer. Neither of these layers are compostable or biodegradable. Placing x - rays into the rubbish means they add to landfill.
2. Doing so allows industry to reclaim the silver in them, which is a type of urban mining. Silver is a valuable product that causes significant environmental damage when mined from the Earth. Reclaiming silver from x-rays yields silver at a much higher rate than traditional mining, typically x-rays contain 8-12 percent silver by weight, while ore can be as low as one percent.

How you can recycle your x-rays

Recycling your x-rays is free – simply take them to the Wurriki Nyal Civic Precinct located at 137-149 Mercer Street in Geelong. Here, your x-rays can be placed in the dedicated x-ray recycling slot in the recycling cabinet located in the foyer.

After you drop off your x-rays...

X-rays collected at Wurriki Nyal are transported to Ecocycle's Campbellfield facility.

Firstly, the x-rays are sorted and then granulated. The granulated material is bagged and then placed in a chemical bath to dissolve the silver-containing imaging layer. This then creates a silver rich chemical solution.

Next, electrolysis is used to capture the silver. This is then melted down and ready to be sold. The left-over PET plastic is drained, rinsed, then ready to be re-enter manufacturing streams, where it is used to make products such as shampoo bottles to polyester fleece clothing.

In its first month the recycling cabinet at Wurriki Nyal received around 25 kilograms of x-rays!

• Find out what else can be recycled in the cabinet