This National Recycling Week, running November 7 to 13, Planet Ark is calling on Australian households, including those in Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges, to reconsider what they are letting go to waste.
Planet Ark, a non-profit environmental organisation, estimates 441,000 tonnes conservatively of the material in council-provided waste bins is recyclable, while 41 to 52 per cent could be composted at home or organic processing facilities.
Chief executive of the organisation Rebecca Gilling said the results show that about half of what Australians send to landfill could actually be recycled, composted or otherwise processed.
“The good news is that with just small changes our recycling behaviours and further investment in large scale food processing and composting facilities for garden and food waste, which is already underway, we could significantly reduce the quantity of waste going to landfill,” she said.
National Recycling Week’s 2022 theme, ‘Waste isn’t waste until it’s wasted’, is about providing practical and simple tips to help people keep valuable materials in circulation, whether at home, work or school.
Residents and workplaces are encouraged to learn simple methods of reducing their environmental footprint and preventing waste.
“Australians can host or join recycling themed events, brush up on their recycling knowledge with educational resources, learn about new developments in recycling policy and technology or discover tricks to reduce what they are sending to landfill and ensure resources don’t go to waste,” Planet Ark said.
Details: nationalrecyclingweek.com.au.
