Cairns dials in top recycling effort

Cairns people have recycled an impressive 156kg of old mobile phones this year, earning Cairns Regional Council the award for Queensland’s top collector in the MobileMuster Local Government Awards.

Across Australia, 24.5 million unused phones are stashed in drawers and cupboards, meaning there are more old mobile phones than people in Australia.

Cairns Mayor Bob Manning (right) said Council has been involved in the MobileMuster national phone recycling program for 10 years.

“Council’s waste management teams, library officers, and Cairns residents are to be congratulated for their commitment to community based recycling programs like MobileMuster,” said Cr Manning.

“Recycling has many benefits, including reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfill, protecting the environment and economic savings.

“It is why Council has invested in more than $7 million in a new Material Recovery Facility, which will be able to divert up to 85 per cent of waste from landfill once finished at the end of this year.”

Mobile phones can be dropped off at Council’s Customer Service Centre, transfer stations or Council libraries.

Residents can also bring their electronics, eligible televisions, computers, old tablets, audio/electrical cables and printer cartridges to Council’s transfer stations for free; and household batteries can also be recycled through the libraries.

Council offers kerbside recycling every fortnight.

Everything collected by MobileMuster is recycled for the circular economy.

The program recovers 95 per cent of the material from old phones and accessories through advanced recycling, which are then used in the manufacturing of new products.

Most of the metal, glass and plastic in phones is re-useable.

For more information on the suite of recycling services available in the Cairns region visit www.recyclingnearyou.com.au

RECYCLING BY THE NUMBERS:

Cairns Regional Council recycling 2018/19 financial year: