Celebrating the mighty yellow bin in National Recycling Week
Published on 13 November 2023
The mighty yellow bin is the hero of this year’s National Recycling Week which runs from 13 to 19 November.
Shoalhaven’s kerbside recycling trucks collect a staggering 12,000 tonnes of recyclable materials from 55,000 households annually.
Carey McIntyre, Director City Services, said National Recycling Week’s focus was to educate and empower people to do the right thing when they’re at the bin.
“Recycling collected from households via the yellow bin has enormous benefits to the environment by ensuring valuable resources do not go to landfill,” Mr McIntyre said.
“We also know that recycling can be confusing and people may be surprised to know that the yellow bin is limited in what it can accept,” he said
“Luckily, Council has produced a new Yellow Bin Guide Fridge Magnet so everyone in the household can see how to recycle correctly.”
Mr McIntyre reminded everyone that most of the items that can go in the yellow bin are usually found in your kitchen. Items such as:
- hard plastic bottles
- hard plastic containers
- metal containers
- glass bottles and jars
- paper and cardboard.
Beyond the yellow bin, the Waste Services team continues to embrace technology recycling materials once destined for landfill.
New facilities at the West Nowra Recycling and Waste Depot are being used for MICROfactorieTM technologies that process waste materials such as plastic, glass, textiles and mattresses into a range of 'green ceramics’. Soon, sorted and cleaned waste plastics will also be turned into pellets or 3D printing filaments.
Council’s glass recycling plant at West Nowra has recycled 9,720 tonnes of glass into glass sand since operations began in 2020. This material has been supplied to local construction industries with some of it being used in the Nowra bridge. A fun fact to think about next time you drive over it.
Council staff will be handing fridge magnets out to customers at selected Recycling and Waste Depots during National Recycling Week. Order your fridge magnet from Waste Services now on 1300 293 111 or visit Council’s website.