RECYCLING AT HOME
2 3 Let s put it in the right bin What items can be recycled in Townsville? What is the difference between my red/green lidded wheelie bin and my yellow-lidded wheelie bin? This is a recycling bin and it is collected on the same day every fortnight. These are general waste bins and are collected on the same day every week. If I am unsure about whether an item can be recycled, what can I do to check? How can I tell what bin to put my rubbish in? Look for these symbols on product packaging: Alumnium, steel cans and foil trays Empty glass bottles and jars em into your = You can throw this it g bin. yellow-lidded recyclin = You can throw this item into your red-lidded or green-lidded rubbish bin. Empty milk and juice cartons Paper and cardboard Certain plastics IF IN DOUBT, CHECK IT OUT www.townsville.qld.gov.au 1300 878 001
4 Plastic problem? It s all in the numbers! Don t Bag Your Recyclables! How do I know what plastics can be recycled? Sometimes there can be a great deal of confusion when trying to determine if a piece of plastic can be recycled. The easiest way to find out is to look for the number. In Townsville we recycle plastics numbered from 1-7. Any plastic items that contain one or more of these numbers or symbols can be placed into your yellow-lidded recycling bin. Handy Hint: If you are worried about mess, line your recycling bin with old newspapers, catalogues or paper instead of using a plastic bag. Why can t we put our recyclables into plastic or garbage bags before they go into our yellowlidded wheelie bins? Recyclables are hand sorted in Queensland. Staff working at recycling centres often face risk of injury when they can t see hidden dangers such as sharps. Contaminating your recycling can result in a wasted effort if those items need to be redirected to landfill due to those contaminants.. 5 NEVERUR BAG YO LES RECYCLAB X Items that are placed into bags before recycling will not be sorted. Instead, they will be sent directly to landfill.
6 Contamination Catastrophe! Why do we need to be careful when recycling? Contamination is very common and usually happens just because people aren t sure what goes in the yellow bin. It is unfortunate because those simple mistakes are costly for workers to deal with in sorting the rubbish and usually means contaminated rubbish must be taken to landfill instead of recycled. Putting the wrong things in the recycle bin can be a wasted recycling effort. Did You Know? Many disposable paper coffee cups cannot be recycled? DA NGER! on i ta m inat Con Risk Why? They are lined with plastic, which means they cannot be sorted properly. Placing these cups into a recycling bin can result in contamination of the surrounding recyclables. X Recycling No-no s DO NOT put these witems into your yello lidded wheelie bin! Liquids or chemicals Dishwasher safe kitchenware 7 Food waste Polystyrene Nappies Household rubbish Syringes Green waste Clothes Plastic bags (remember you can return these to your supermarket) Clothes can recycled by donating them to charity Plastic bags can be returned to the supermarket.
8 HOME COMPOST YELLOW LID BIN TIP TRANSFER STATIONS RED/GREEN LID BIN 9 Food waste (com posting is a good way to get rid of orga nic scraps) Empty glass bottles and jars Alumnium, steel cans and foil trays Green waste Clothes Electrical appliances Pu mps Palm fronds Leaves Toys Paper and cardboard Large green waste Polystyrene Empty milk and juice cartons Bricks, concrete & soil Nappies Plastic bags and wrap Lawn clippings (re mem ber you can return these to you r sup erm arket) Weeds Certain plastics (with the recycling symbol) Plastic plant pots Small branches RuB out rubbi sh NEVEORUR BAG CYLABLES R ECY X * Remove lids from plastic bottles and glass items * Check for a triangle symbol on items to ensure they are recyclable Pyrex, ovenware, plates, cups or crockery (please wrap these up) Rope and wire Garden hose/ tools Co mputer parts or electronics Ask your council about these dangerous items: To the tip! * Batteries, car parts, scrap metal or fencing materials, gas cylinders, oils and chemicals, concrete or bricks, carpet and furniture. Over 86% of Townsvilles household waste can be diverted from landfill! Chemical Flammable Biohazard / Medical Waste
10 Let s help then:helpers QUESTIO 11 Become the King of Crushing The machinery being used in sorting and recycling facilities can cope with dirty jars and containers; however, it is important to think about the people who work there. If your recyclables are crushed or flattened, this will ensure there is plenty of space in your bin for the two-week period in between bin collections. Rinsing out your jars and containers with old washing up water, or something similar, will help out those people working at the sorting facilities. Properly crushed recyclables also create less space in the rubbish trucks, which means that more items can be collected by these trucks before they go to the sorting facility. As a result, there are less fossil fuels burned in the collection process. Fewer odours will make their workplace more tolerable and will attract less vermin/rodents. As a result, the recycling centre will be a much nicer place to work. Maybe you are already the King of Crushing but your recycle bin still seems full all the time. Give council a call to find out about up-sizing to the new 360L recycle bin. Doesn t it feel nice to know that you are helping other people as well as the environment? Important Safety Note: Do not crush aerosol containers, as they can explode and cause serious injury. Just remove the plastic lid and place it in the recycling bin.
12 The Scrunch Test. A If a piece of plastic can be easily scrunched up or broken, then it probably can t be recycled. If you are still unsure, then throw it in your normal rubbish bin. Examples of plastics that cannot be recycled include bubble wrap, lolly packets and meat trays. + 13 Refuse to Use! You don t have to put up with lots of packaging, junk mail and the like. You can make the choice to refuse it. How do I refuse to use something? When you go to the supermarket, don t use plastic bags for your vegetables they like to be free! Take a reusable bag when you go shopping. You can refuse to use the plastic bags provided. Think about products you buy that use a lot of packaging; are there alternatives that produce less waste? Buy in bulk to cut down on packaging. Put a No Junk Mail sticker on your letterbox to prevent catalogues and other advertising material being placed inside.
14 15 Reduce your Impact Visit the Tip Bag your Bags! Did you know that each plastic bag we use is thrown away after approximately 12 minutes? Plastic lasts a lifetime. That means that every piece of plastic that has ever been made STILL EXISTS TODAY! Did you know that Australians use nearly 7 billion plastic checkout bags each year? A good way to reduce your plastic impact is to return your plastic bags to the super market for recycling, and use reuasable green shopping bags. If you have recyclables that can t be put into your yellow lidded wheelie bin, consider taking them to your local recycling centre or transfer station. Car batteries are highly toxic and leach harsh chemicals into the soil which contaminates it. A way to reduce this impact is by recycling your batteries. How do we do that? If you take your old batteries into a battery recycler, they will recycle them for free! How full is your bin? Almost all of the average household bin in Townsville can be diverted away from landfill. If we recycle right and get smart about ways to manage our waste we could be left with as little as 19% in the bottom of the bin! Recycle Paper & 16% dboard Car, 27% Plastic el and Glass, Ste Aluminium Compost 38% Organic Rubbish/ Landfill 19%
CHAMPION RECYCLERS Do you need a bigger yellow bin? Congratulations! Call us to enquire about our new 360L recycle bin. For more information: enquiries@townsville.qld.gov.au Customer Service Centre on 1300 878 001. IF IN DOUBT, CHECK IT OUT www.townsville.qld.gov.au 1300 878 001