NWRRR implements contamination tracking in North West Tasmania to keep levels low

Devonport City Council Tasmania

Starting in September 2024, the North West Resource, Recovery and Recycling (NWRRR) will conduct bin checks and assessments to help achieve a target of less than 10% contamination in recycling bins by 2028. Bin checks will happen across the three kerbside bins – FOGO, recycling and landfill – in Devonport.

Kerbside bin contamination occurs when the wrong waste is placed in the wrong bin. When waste is sorted right it:

  1. Creates more space in every household bin
  1. Ensure the community is playing a part for waste to be easily processed, recovered and recycled into new products.

Between 60 to 80 % of each household’s waste can be diverted using recycling and FOGO bins. Every household can take actions to help prevent contamination and the NWRRR team is here to support and educate the Central Coast, Devonport, Kentish, Latrobe and Waratah-Wynyard council communities.

Maintaining low contamination rates is a community-wide effort, beginning with correct waste sorting in your kerbside bins. To ensure all the community stays on track, NWRRR will be running two main activities:

  1. Bin checks: Commencing September 2024, an informal bin check system will involve tagging bins to highlight if the household is progressing well or showing how they can improve.
  1. Bin Assessments: Commencing October 2024, a formal four strike assessment system including the application of a sticker onto contaminated FOGO and recycling bins.

“We sincerely thank all Devonport residents for their efforts in the FOGO roll-out and kindly ask that you continue to sort your waste correctly. Your improvements are essential in supporting effective waste management and promoting environmental sustainability in our community,” Devonport Mayor Alison Jarman said.

NWRRR is being co-ordinated by Dulverton Waste Management (DWM). CEO of DWM, Veronica Schilling, commented, “Bin checks across Australia are proven to be one of the most popular and effective forms of waste education. We encourage the community to continue sorting their waste into the right bins so we can reach our future goals of diverting 60 per cent of our household waste out of landfill by 2028.”

By sorting waste correctly, households can protect the environment and enhance the effectiveness of recycling and composting efforts.

/Public Release. View in full here.