Do the right bin as Tweed’s contamination rates rise
19 December 2018
What do the green and yellow bins want for Christmas? It’s not a matter of what they want, it’s actually a matter of what they DON’T want.
Council’s Director Community and Natural Resources, Tracey Stinson, is asking residents and visitors to take the time to make sure our yellow and green bins don’t go to waste in the rush of it all.
“We are very thankful to all the residents who are still doing their bit, however some people are putting plastic bags and plastic bagged waste in the green and yellow bins. It only takes a few people to do the wrong thing for a whole truck load to be rejected and this then has to go to landfill instead of being beneficially re-used,” Ms Stinson said.
“This can undo all the hard work of those doing the right thing. If green bin contents have to go to landfill it stops nutrient-rich compost from being returned back to the earth to improve our environment and our growing capacity.
“This is definitely not what the Tweed community wants and it’s not who we are, as ‘less to landfill’ is near and dear to our community. I was so very proud of the Tweed when we initially had one of the lowest contamination rates in Australia for our green bins with less than one per cent contamination – unfortunately we are now sitting at over four per cent contamination.
“Please help us by encouraging your visitors, holiday tenants and neighbours to do the right thing. It’s the beauty of our environment that keeps people living and visiting here and we want to do all we can to protect this.
“Please DO NOT use plastic bags in the green or yellow bins. There is starting to be a wide range of plastic bags in our green bins – use old newspapers or only the approved green bin liners (Australian Standard AS4736). NO biodegradable or degradable bags,” she said.
Can Council help? If you or someone you know needs help to sort out their waste call (02) 6670 2400, email waste@tweed.nsw.gov.au or visit www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/Waste. Also, follow Tweed Shire Council’s Facebook page for ongoing waste tips, including the new Recycle Right information for your yellow bin.
Here’s some handy tips to make bin time more manageable:
Green bin
• Place an Australian Standard (AS 4736) certified compostable liner in the freezer. Add meat or fish scraps throughout the week and then place in the green bin on collection day.
• Use old cardboard in the green bin. To keep your bin extra clean, place cardboard boxes or newspapers at the bottom of your bin before you start placing food scraps in.
Yellow bin
• Relieve your bin of space by crushing your recyclables before placing them in the bin. Also, return your eligible bottles and cans to your nearest Return and Earn collection point.
• Bring your extra household recyclables for FREE to Stotts Creek Resource Recovery Centre including large cardboard and wrapping (paper).
Red bin
• Relieve your bin of space and take your soft plastics to major supermarket ‘Redcycle’ collection points.
• If you are not sure which bin to out a particular type of waste into, put it into the red bin – don’t risk contaminating a whole load of green or yellow bin waste with the wrong items.
Council’s waste contractor and Council staff will continue to tag bins that contain large amounts of unwanted items. Council’s Education Officer will continue to visit households to provide personal feedback to help residents with sorting out their waste. Tagged bins with large amounts of unwanted items will only be collected once the resident has removed the incorrect items.