Prizes up for grabs to reward residents who ‘get it sorted’

Published on 09 November 2020

Do you collect your kitchen scraps? Rinse and empty your milk cartons? Crush your cardboard? Only put recyclables and organics in the correct bins?

Local residents who make the effort to sort their waste and use their kerbside bins correctly could soon be rewarded as part of a new waste education initiative.

Mildura Rural City Council is launching the Get it Sorted Stars program to celebrate, educate and encourage people to divert waste from landfill.

The launch coincides with National Recycling Week, which runs from 9 to 15 November 2020.

Council’s General Manager Development, Mandy Whelan said 10 households from across the region would be named Get It Sorted Stars and receive a $100 Mildura City Heart gift card in recognition for their efforts.

“From now until March, fortnightly winners will be chosen for putting the right things in their kerbside recycling and green bins,” Ms Whelan said.

“We know that the vast majority of people throughout the region are making a real effort to put the right things in the right bins – especially since the new green bin for organics was introduced.”

In the July to October 2020 quarter, locals diverted more than 4,000 tonnes of waste from landfill. This includes 1,350 tonnes of recycling and 2,737 tonnes of food and garden organics.  The total amount of rubbish to landfill has dropped by an impressive 47% compared with the same time last year.

“This initiative is about acknowledging the enormous effort people are making and an opportunity to encourage and support others to do the same.”

Get it Sorted Stars will be identified by the staff who empty kerbside bins each day and have a thorough knowledge of what should and should not be found in recycling and green bins. Bin collection truck drivers can see the contents of each bin as they empty it into their truck thanks to an on-board camera system.

Plastic bags are one of the most common contaminants found in recycling and green bins. Residents are reminded to only put plastic bags in their rubbish bins or take them to supermarket REDcycle soft plastic collection points.

If people are unsure about what goes in each of their three bins they can check online at www.mildura.vic.gov.au/waste or call Council on 5018 8100. You can also download the Loddon Mallee Waste Info app to your mobile phone which has an easy to search A-Z Guide.

With that in mind residents are reminded it is important to clearly mark their bins with their address so that winning households can be easily identified.

For more information about using your three kerbside bins correctly visit www.mildura.vic.gov.au/waste or call Council’s Waste Education Officer on (03) 5018 8100.

ENDS