Recycling is a critical part of waste management – and facilitating it is a core responsibility for us here at Council. Recycling enables us to transform waste into new products, and this is particularly important because some waste is hard to avoid.
But when it comes to waste management, avoiding waste altogether is preferable to recycling. This idea is central to what’s commonly called the ‘waste management hierarchy’. It prioritises waste prevention first, followed by re-use, recycling, energy recovery, treatment and finally disposal.
Every day single use swaps
One way to reduce waste is to avoid single-use items. Single-use items or disposable items are products and packaging that we throw out after only one use. In some cases, they’re used for minutes only, but their impact on our environment can last thousands of years. And even when these items are recyclable, we use up energy and our environment’s natural resources to produce these avoidable items.
We can avoid single use by making some simple changes in our everyday lives:
- Hosting a party? Buy secondhand crockery or rent items. The Elwood Kitchen Library allows you to rent everything from plates to cutlery to appliances – and many liquor stores rent glassware too.
- Using wet wipes? Use recycled toilet paper instead. Wet wipes typically contain plastic so, once they reach the sea, they last for a long time, which can badly impact our marine life.
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