“Reduce, reuse, recycle.”
Those who have watched the popular children’s animated television series Bob the Builder: Project Build It, will be quite familiar with the phase.
It could well be the catchcry of any National Recycling Week program, but it particularly fits this year’s theme of “Recovery – A future beyond the bin”, which has an emphasis on giving resources a second chance and thereby reducing virgin resource use through reuse and recycling.
Now celebrating its 25th year, Planet Ark’s recycling focused week kicked-off today (9 November).
Cairns Mayor Bob Manning said reducing waste not only keeps materials out of landfill, it also benefits the environment.
“Here in Cairns we’ve really improved our recycling efforts over the years,” Cr Manning said.
“About 13,000 tonnes of recyclable material are collected annually, separated and given a second life by being recycled into new products by contractors (mostly in South East Queensland).
“However, there’s still a few common mistakes that we’re making with our recycling and waste bins that could easily be improved – we need to get the right items in the right bins.
“Over 20 per cent of the material placed in the kerbside red or green lid waste bins (about 9,000 tonnes), was actually recyclable.
“Unfortunately, these items then end up in landfill with no option for them to be reused.”
To help residents better understand what should go in their bin, Council has launched a new recycling specific messaging campaign ‘Recycle Right’, which has six key messages, each accompanied with a short video.
In keeping with the spirit of National Recycling Week’s sub-topic of “How to recycle packaging correctly,” Council’s new campaign specifically addresses some of the confusion that exists around this topic.
Council also expects to decrease the amount of refuse ending up in landfill when its new Material Recovery Facility comes online early next year. The new facility has the capability to divert up to 85 per cent of waste from landfill.
Cr Manning said that disposing of waste correctly was paramount to ensuring recycled materials were accepted in the marketplace and did not end up in landfill.
“If we want to avoid landfill here in the Cairns region and see more of our waste materials recycled, we need to ensure there is lower contamination, which is where residents can play a vital role, he said.
“If residents are unsure of what should go in their recycling bin, they can visit the Recycle Right webpage.
“There’s a list of common household items and which bin they go in and a search feature if you can’t find the item you’re looking for. It also tells you what happens to those items after they get collected.”
