(15/11/2018) Recycling changes under the spotlight

The City of Fremantle is taking advantage of National Recycling Week this week to highlight recent changes to what can be put in your yellow-topped bin.

Perth’s three Materials Recovery Facility operators – Cleanaway, Suez and the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council (SMRC), who separate and sort household recycling - have agreed on a common list of materials which can be included, or should be excluded, from the recycling bin.

In the City of Fremantle recycling from yellow-topped bins is processed at the Regional Resource Recovery Centre in Canning Vale, which is owned and operated by the SMRC.

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said having a clear and consistent range of recycling items would make it easier to understand what goes in which bin.

“In the past there’s been a lot of different information about what goes into your recycling bin depending on which council you live in,” Mayor Pettitt said.

“This has meant that over time there’s been some confusion about just exactly what can and can’t go into the yellow topped bin.

“Changes in the industry and tighter restrictions on recyclable products now mean that as a community we have to try our best to make sure we are putting the right thing in the right bin.

“Items which are wrongly placed into the recycling bin can get mixed up with other streams and spoil good quality recyclables or even worse, pose risks to staff and equipment involved in the recycling process.”

The City of Fremantle is working with the SMRC to make sure all messaging across the council is updated as soon as possible.

What are the major changes?

Aerosols

While Aerosol cans are made from recyclable materials, they can pose a risk to staff and equipment during the process of collecting and separating the contents of your recycling bins.

Aerosol cans are classified as hazardous household waste (HHW) and instead of being placed in your kerbside recycling bins, should be taken to your local HHW disposal site.

Other HHW items include paint and paint tins, batteries, gas cylinders, fluorescent tubes and chemicals and should not go into any of your household bins. These items can be disposed of at no charge at several collection sites around Perth. To find your closest drop off location visit https://m.recycleright.wa.gov.au/locator/hhw-disposal.html

Soft or scrunchable plastics

Soft, scrunchable plastics like plastic bags, bread bags, plastic wrappers and glad wrap are difficult products to recycle through a kerbside recycling bin and often get mixed up with other lightweight streams like paper at the recovery facility, causing contamination of other materials such as paper and cardboard.

These items will no longer be accepted in kerbside recycling bins in the Perth Metropolitan Area.

The best option that is currently available for these types of plastics is to gather them together and take them to a RedCycle drop off bin, which are located at most major supermarkets. RedCycle collects clean soft plastics from drop off points around the country and works with Australian manufacturer Replas to turn this material into a range of recycled plastic products.

A good test to see if it’s a soft plastic is the ‘scrunch test’ - if you can scrunch the plastic item up into a ball then it can be taken to a soft plastic drop off bin. You can check the full list of items RedCycle accepts and find your closest drop location off at www.redcycle.net.au.

How should you place items into your recycling bin?

All recycling items should be clean, dry with lids removed and placed into your recycling bin loosely. Recycling tied up in bags can’t be recycled, as the bags can’t be opened and the materials inside can’t be identified.

FOGO is coming!

The City of Fremantle will be introducing a third Food Organic Garden Organic (FOGO) bin for food and garden waste next year.

The new three bin system will include:

The three bin system will be introduced to more than 13,000 residential households in Fremantle in July and August next year.

For more information about recycling in Fremantle visit the Recycling page on the City’s website.