Recycling power poles

Power poles that once lined the streets of Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter Valley have returned to our distribution area as timber for domestic and community buildings thanks to a pole recycling program. 

We send our poles to a timber recycler in accordance with NSW EPA requirements. The poles are not available for collection from Ausgrid depots by the public.

Poles are then recycled into feature floors, posts and doorways as part of the program. Recycled timber power poles have been reused in Ryde Park Café and in the community lookout at Port Botany. 

We have about 500,000 power poles in our network and buy about 5,000 poles each year. Power poles are a critical component of the overhead electricity network and are inspected every four years. We have a mix of timber, concrete, steel and composite steel poles.

Most poles come from hardwood trees such as iron bark, white mahogany and spotted gum and are sourced from native plantations on the NSW north coast.

Poles range in length from eight to 23 metres. The most common poles are 11 to 14 metres in length and are treated with a copper-based preservative, leaving them a green colour.