Latest News• Add My News • Search Old News Gippsland › Latest news › Gippsland Portal FeatureBass Coast – Keen And Green8 - 14 November is National Recycling Week and Bass Coast has plenty to celebrate. A range of initiatives are in place to help increase recycling and awareness of its importance. Bass Coast Shire Council’s Infrastructure Director, Steven Piasente, said new recycling bins, a competition with local primary schools and additional recycling services were just some of the projects underway. "The State Government has set targets for reducing the amount of community waste going into landfill by 65 per cent by 2014," said Mr Piasente. "To meet this target, we need to increase awareness and make it as easy as possible for people to recycle." New recycling bins for residents In May 2009, Council announced recycling bins would be supplied free of charge. In the past, residents had to purchase a bin through Council. "Our research showed that approximately 25 per cent of housholds did not use the recycling service," explained Mr Piasente. "We hope these new bins will increase the rate of recycling across the Shire. The long term plan is that within seven years, all our properties will have a new standard recycling bin. "Standard bins will make it easier for the collection trucks. At the moment there are different coloured, privately purchased recycling bins out there. This means that sometimes recycling collections are being contaminated with non-recyclable material." The roll out of new bins started in 2009 with properties that had not purchased a recycling bin in the past. Wonthaggi Recyclers is now delivering bins to replace the old recycling bins that people purchased. "When Council decided to provide new bins free of charge, it also decided to provide them to all ratepayers, rather than a system where some residents got a bin for free and others had to pay for them," Mr Piasente said. "A lot of these bins that were originally purchased are getting old and are due for replacement. "People can keep their old bins for their own use, or dispose of them at one of our waste transfer stations free of charge." Mr Piasente said Council encouraged people to reuse their old bins however they could. "There are some wonderful examples of ways people have reused their old wheelie bins in other shires," Mr Piasente said. "They’ve been converted into compost bins, storage spaces and rain/grey water tanks. There will be information up on our website if you are looking for ideas and we’d love to hear from anyone who comes up with a unique use." Extra recycling services this holiday Throughout January, all households will receive additional recycling collections. "From 27 December 2010 through to 28 January 2011, household recycling collections will be weekly, instead of fortnightly," advised Mr Piasente. Residents are now able to recycle plastics from codes 1-7. Public recycling bins This month, 65 new public recycling bins will be installed at eight locations across "The bins will be placed in areas that we have identified as high traffic," explained Mr Piasente. "We hope this will help us divert up to 250 tonnes of recyclable material from landfill." Recycling bins are already in Recycling education Making people aware of the importance of recycling is a key component of decreasing the amount of recyclable material going into landfill. A campaign using local primary school students’ artwork aims to make people aware of the new recycling bins. "Every local primary school was invited to create a collage using recycled materials to promote recycling," explained Mr Piasente. "The collages all had the slogan – "Do The Right Thing, Use The Right Bin". We had a great response from the schools and the entries are displayed in the foyers of the Wonthaggi and Cowes Customer Service Centres. "The artwork is outstanding and the winner will be announced next week, based on effort, creativity and educational effect. "The judging committee of councillors and members of our waste and sustainability team, have a very difficult task ahead of them!" Three schools will win a cash prize they can use to purchase any waste effective or environmentally sustainable item they require. Anyone needing information on waste services, recycling or the roll out of the new recycling bins can visit our website at www.basscoast.vic.gov.au or contact our Waste Services team on 1300 BCOAST (226 278).
For more information contact: communications coordinator t (03) 5671 2296 | f (03) 5671 2222 | m 0407 557 620 e e.mckay@basscoast.vic.gov.au Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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