Council takes 'New Life. Not Landfill' message to the streets
What do jumpers, bicycles, aeroplanes and toilet rolls have in common?
They can all be produced using products Australians have recycled via their household recycling bins.
Council is taking its Towards Zero Waste initiative’s “New life. Not landfill” message to the streets during National Recycling Week, (9th to 15th November), urging residents to make sure their recyclable household items reach the yellow-lidded bin.
“When you recycle, you continue the life of materials already in circulation, reduce waste and the need for new raw materials, which saves energy,” says Council’s Waste and Environmental Health Manager, Wayne Schafer.
“Sadly for every recyclable item that winds up in the waste bin, it breaks this cycle and contributes to unnecessary landfill.”
Used cardboard, paper, glass bottles, milk cartons and plastic food and drink containers, aluminium and tin cans should all be recycled.
“It’s a shame for any recyclable item condemned to the waste bin, but aluminium cans and tins, in particular, can be infinitely recycled and need never reach landfill,” Mr Schafer says.
“Planet Ark advises that a can made from recycled materials rather than bauxite saves 95% of the energy used in manufacturing new cans. The energy saved by recycling one can could power a TV for three hours.”
Recyclable plastic containers, glass bottles and tin cans, go on to become all sorts of new and useful products.
“Glass wine and beer bottles become non-slip surfaces used on stairs and in the green bicycle lanes on local roads,” says Mr Schafer.
Many bicycle frames started life as aluminium food and drink cans, while the material in your favourite polyester jumper may have once been a plastic milk bottle.
“Many toilet rolls and tissues started out as newspaper and envelopes used and given new life through recycling,” says Mr Schafer.
Council staff will be on hand near local supermarkets during National Recycling Week to answer recycling questions, explain what to recycle and the reason it’s important.
The first step toward zero waste is improving what we already do, including recycling via the yellow lidded bin and optional garden waste recycling bins.
For a handy A-Z guide to waste and recycling, visit Council's waste and recycling page.
Council's National Recycling Week pop-up locations:
- 9 November - Noosa Fair, Noosa Junction
- 9 November - Noosa Junction Plaza, Noosa Junction
- 10 November - Noosa Village Shopping Centre, Noosaville
- 11 November – IGA, Pomona
- 12 November - Woolworths, Tewantin
- 13 November - Noosa Civic, Noosaville
6 November 2015