Get ready to ‘lift the lid’ on your recycling as National Recycling Week gets underway from 8-14 November.
National Recycling Week is a time to celebrate our recycling achievements, brush up on our recycling skills and dispel some of the uncertainty around what we can recycle and where it’s actually going.
Council’s Resource Recovery Unit Coordinator Rod Dawson said he realised recycling could be confusing, given the ever-changing nature of the industry.
“What we can recycle and where it is processed relies on manufacturing companies being able to use our recycled content. And for people to buy recycled items, there needs to be a market for it,” Mr Dawson said.
“It’s important for our community to know our recycling facilities have made great pathways and opportunities to process and use recyclables right here in Australia.
“For instance, the plastic bottles and containers we put into our recycling bins are sent from our Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) in Chinderah to Kangaroo Plastics Technology in Melbourne where they are sorted and granulated, ready to be used in manufacturing.
“What people don’t realise is that small recycling efforts make a huge difference. There are 2 people at the facility who sort the recycling by hand. If recycling is done correctly, it means less contamination and a better outcome for the recycled material to be used again.”
So what can we do as a community?
Keep recycling and keep buying recycled products
Seek out a variety of everyday products – from toilet paper to pens, to other products such as flooring and fencing. Planet Ark’s Recycled Product Directory has it all. Visit recyclingnearyou.com.au/education/recycledproducts
Waste Wizard search tool
Another great initiative recently launched along with Tweed Shire Council’s new website is the Waste Wizard search function. Search to find out ‘what goes where’. You can also provide feedback to help build further improvements. Visit tweed.nsw.gov.au/waste-wizard
Australasian Recycling Label (ARL)
