Manly and Manly West households with used cooking oil have an alternative to pouring it down the drain, with Brisbane’s resource recovery network accepting the material for recycling at centres including Chandler.
Brisbane City Council accepts up to 20 litres of cooking oil at each of its four resource recovery centres. Residential quantities of many recyclable and reusable items can be dropped off free, while general waste and green waste may attract fees or require waste vouchers.
A Busy Centre on Brisbane’s Eastern Side
Chandler is one of two smaller resource recovery centres operated by Council, alongside Ferny Grove. Nudgee and Willawong are classed as the city’s two major centres.
Council figures show Chandler received about 69,700 tonnes of residual waste in 2024–25 against a stated annual design capacity of 50,000 tonnes. The figure put the facility at 139.4 per cent of its design capacity for the year. Chandler has consistently exceeded its operational capacity limits, partly because it accepts kerbside residual waste.
The same Council document identifies traffic pressures at the site. Chandler’s current operating capacity was listed at 812 vehicles during peak periods, while weekend vehicle numbers recorded in March 2021 reached about 1,300. Council said traffic volumes had continued to rise after 2021, although no newer modelling had been undertaken.
Cooking Oil Has a Use Beyond the Kitchen
Chandler also played an early role in the growth of Brisbane business Gold Oil Solutions.
The company began in 2020 after directors Chris Chrysostomou and Len Hutton looked at the problem of waste oil entering Brisbane’s wastewater system. Collection points were later installed at Chandler, Ferny Grove, Nudgee and Willawong, giving the business its initial supply base before collections expanded to cafes and restaurants across South East Queensland.
Gold Oil Solutions processes used cooking oil by removing fine particles and heating the material to kill bacteria. Refined oil is then sold into the animal-feed market, where poultry producer Darwalla uses it mainly as an energy source in feed and as a dust suppressant.
The business has since grown beyond its original Council collection points and is looking for additional poultry and livestock customers as the amount of recovered oil increases.
What Happens When Oil Goes Down the Drain
Pouring fats and cooking oils into a kitchen sink can create problems much closer to home.
Once cooled inside sewer pipes, oil and grease can solidify and bind with wet wipes, food residue and other material. The resulting blockages are commonly known as fatbergs.
Queensland Urban Utilities reported more than 360 fatberg-related sewer blockages across its network in 2017–18. Its service area included Brisbane, Ipswich, the Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim. The utility also said at the time that one in four people poured cooking oil down the kitchen sink.
Brisbane has produced some sizeable examples. The biggest fatberg Queensland Urban Utilities had recorded by 2019 was found beneath Bowen Hills, measuring about seven metres long and 60 centimetres wide. A crane was needed to remove it.
Waste disposal is already a familiar issue for Manly and Manly West households, where Council kerbside collections provide another route for large household items that cannot fit into regular bins.
Resource recovery centres accept materials that are not suited to kerbside collections or household bins, including batteries, electronic waste, hard plastics, metals, engine oil and cooking oil.
Council Plans the Next Generation of Waste Centres
Brisbane’s four resource recovery centres are also earmarked for longer-term changes.
Council has consulted residents and businesses on plans to transform Chandler, Ferny Grove, Nudgee and Willawong into circular-economy hubs intended to support Brisbane’s waste-reduction needs over the next 30 years.
Published 12-Sept-2026