Change this national Recycling Week: Stop bagging your recycling

Wyndham City Council is reminding residents to stop bagging their recycling this National Recycling Week (11th to 17th November).

One of the biggest reasons good recyclables are sent to landfill in Wyndham is because residents are putting them in plastic bags.

Environment and Sustainability Portfolio Holder Cr Heather Marcus said residents may have concerns that their recycling was going to landfill due to recent news that some recycling companies were doing this.

“However, this was never the case in Wyndham and our recycling provider, Visy, follows the correct process,” Cr Marcus said.

“When we inspected 12,003 household bins, 70 per cent of those bins contained soft plastics or bagged recyclables.”

“If recyclables are placed into a plastic bag, the staff at sorting facilities are not able to open the bags due to health and safety risks.”

“Council advises residents to place recyclables loosely into the recycling bin – maybe throw them into a cardboard box under the sink and when it’s full, tip the recyclables into your recycling bin or buy a separate recycling bin for your kitchen.”

“The best place to recycle your soft plastics such as food wrappers, plastic bags, bread bags, and chip packets is at the designated soft package recycling bins at major supermarkets.”

“These get turned into useful products such as park furniture, so by disposing of soft plastics properly you are not only contributing to better recycling, you are also helping to repurpose

For more information or a copy of the waste guide visit www.wyndham.vic.gov.au/recycleright