Feel confident about recycling

The Noosa Shire community should feel confident that the vast majority of the items that they put in their recycling bin are recycled. The contents of Noosa’s recycling bins (yellow lid) go to the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) near Nambour to be sorted. They are then dealt with under a contract with Visy. 

In a statement, Visy advised council, “I can confirm that all recyclable material (including glass) delivered to the Nambour MRF is beneficially reused in accordance with the terms and conditions of our contract and that no materials, other than contaminants, are sent to landfill.”

Mayor Tony Wellington said that Council's Towards Zero Waste initiative commits to both reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill and increasing recycling efforts. “It's important to note that a significant amount of recycling occurs on-site at our resource recovery centre on Eumundi-Noosa Rd. For example, garden waste is mulched and made available free of charge to the public. Building waste, including timber, concrete and metal, is segregated. The concrete and timber is crushed and reused on site or else it is sold. Metals are sent to Sims Metal for recycling.

“Residents can also drop off a wide range of other items at the resource recovery centre for recycling by specialist recyclers. These include e-waste such as old televisions and computer equipment, tyres, batteries, light bulbs, mattresses, printer cartridges, polystyrene and engine oil.

“The recycle shop at the Eumundi-Noosa Road resource recovery centre is another way in which Council is helping to reduce landfill. We encourage the community to drop off unwanted items to the shop, particularly if they are still in working order or in need of minor repairs. Better that such items are reused than fill up our landfill.

"We are also pleased to be trialling new road surfaces made from recycled glass, toner salvaged from used printer cartridges, plus rubber from old car tyres.

"The new 3 bin collection service will allow Council to further divert garden waste from landfill and then process it on-site for reuse as mulch. To date, organic matter has contributed to around half of all waste ending up in landfill. The new green waste bins will thus have long term benefits in terms of the life of the landfill, as well as costs associated with landfill management. As organic matter is a major source of greenhouse gases, diverting green waste from landfill will result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

"The take-home message is that residents should continue to divert recyclable materials from the general waste stream, and thus from our landfill, by putting them into the recycling bin."

To find out more about Noosa Council recycling visit:https://www.noosa.qld.gov.au/recycling-waste-services

22 August 2017