Ever wondered what materials are being recycled in kerbside bins across Tasmania, where they go and what they’re used for?
This information was compiled from three of Tasmania’s Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in October 2019:
Do you have something to be recycled but it doesn’t belong in your kerbside recycling bin?
Here’s a list of the other recycling services available across Tasmania including batteries, coffee pods, toothbrushes, tyres, motor oil, light globes, plastic bags and much more!
To find out about the TerraCycle collection boxes and free recycling services, visit TerraCycle Australia.
The Poulton Family from Westbury are truly good sorts. They set themselves a ‘Bread Bag Challenge’: to reduce the volume of their household garbage so it fills no more than one bread bag per week.
The idea came after the family of four decided to start recycling their soft plastics via REDCycle at the supermarket. When they went to add a soft plastics collection bag at home they realised there wasn’t enough space for the regular garbage bag too and so they switched from a big garbage bag to a bread bag instead.
This temporary fix became a household challenge and before long they were composting, avoiding products with too much packaging, and sorting all kinds of recycling to keep their garbage waste to a minimum.
They’ve made so many changes for good that they’ve been able to fit their landfilled garbage in a bread bag every week for several months! It’s a great example of positive action and well deserving of being named overall winners in the 2019 North TAS Waste NoT Awards (pictured accepting their award from Northern Midlands Council Mayor Mary Knowles).
The sixth round of residential recycling bin assessments and contamination education for residents was completed in Burnie City, Circular Head, Central Coast, Devonport City, Kentish, Latrobe and Waratah Wynyard municipal areas between 17 September – 12 November 2018 and 29 April – 25 May 2019. The next round of recycling bin checks will commence in the Cradle Coast region from 23 September 2019.
In the last round, a total of 11,887 bins were checked in this program that was coordinated by the Cradle Coast Waste Management Group. On average, recycling bins across the region were estimated to be filled to 74% of their capacity (down by 2% from last assessment period).
Bins that contained more than 10% total contamination recorded a ‘fail’ result. Across the region, 6% of bins failed the assessment. Residents were provided with recycling information and customised advice relating to their bin contents. 9% were classified as ‘Improvement Required’, where contaminants made up between 5 – 10% of the bin content. 85% of bins passed the assessment, recording less than 5% contamination.
A summary of the 2018/19 assessment program, including the full list of contaminants and their occurrence rates, can be downloaded here:
Want to find a better way to manage your school’s waste?
Before you jump in to a waste audit, take a few moments to check out the handy tips included in this fact sheet compiled by the Waste Education Officers from across Tasmania.
The time spent in planning will help make any future waste minimisation efforts all the more successful. Thank you for rethinking waste in Tasmania!
The Cradle Coast Waste Management Group is enlisting the help of visitors to North West Tasmania in an effort to clean up illegally dumped rubbish.
Coastal reserves and nature reserves are common locations for dumping rubbish and are also popular with tourists. To make it easy for visitors to know where to dispose of their waste and recycling and to report any findings of dumped rubbish, the Waste Management Group created a collectable series of postcards with information on waste transfer station locations and contact details for the local council.
Seven cards were produced for each of the Cradle Coast Waste Management Group’s member council areas and are being distributed through visitor information centres.
Signs are also being installed encouraging visitors to not leave their good recycling habits at home and to report sightings of dumped rubbish. Increased surveillance and reporting of dumping hotspots will hopefully encourage offenders to think twice and do the right thing.
This latest campaign against illegal dumping follows from a statewide project to raise awareness of the many waste services available from government, not-for-profit groups and commercial providers to responsibly dispose of bulky, unwanted items. Find out about these disposal options in the Cradle Coast here.
After reading about northern Tasmanian student, Travis, and his passion for recycling in the Rethink Waste Tasmania Good Sorts, Veolia reached out to him with a little surprise.
The Veolia team arranged for three staff and a couple of recycling collection trucks to visit Travis and deliver a goody-bag of treats. Travis was invited to sit up in a truck and chat to the staff about all aspects of their jobs. A great experience for for someone aspiring to be a ‘Garbologist’!
Thank you Veolia for supporting Tasmania’s future waste warriors and sharing this summary of their visit:
Have you been to your council’s waste transfer station or resource recovery centre lately?
It’s not a tip. It’s THE place to take unwanted items for recycling. Every council in the Cradle Coast Waste Management Group has at least one; so you don’t have to travel far (Circular Head, Waratah-Wynyard, Burnie, Central Coast, Devonport, Latrobe and Kentish Council areas).
These centres now also accept for FREE and safe recycling or disposal:
Don’t risk harming the environment by throwing them in your garbage bin.
Search for your local Council on our home page, or call your Council to find out more.
With Good Sorts like Travis, Tasmania’s future is in great hands! Travis lives in northern TAS and says that when he grows up, he wants to be a “Garbologist”. He even dressed up as one at a recent Book Week event at his school.
He’s got his family’s waste and recycling sorted and helps out with his neighbour’s bins too – rain, hail or shine. Travis knows what can and can’t be recycled and is very particular about what items go into each bin.
He’s encouraging his family to avoid – reduce- reuse and recycle as much as possible; well done Travis!
Safely disposing of big loads of household rubbish isn’t as costly or difficult as you might think.
Local councils, not-for-profit groups and commercial businesses all provide a variety of disposal services for bulky, unwanted items. You can give away unwanted items through online networks such as freecycle.org, gumtree or Buy, Sell, Swap pages on Facebook. Often people take these items to repair or repurpose.
There are also commercial recyclers in Tasmania that can take unwanted goods for a fee – search online to find businesses near you (and some are happy to travel and collect materials too).
TYRES
Tyres can be dropped off at most tip/waste management centres for recycling. A fee applies depending on the size of the tyre (usually around $5 – $10 each).
Many car service centres offer a tyre disposal service when they fit new tyres. This fee is often cheaper and more convenient than taking the tyres to the tip yourself.
CARS
Car bodies can be sold for scrap metal recycling and can be collected for free. Contact a car wrecker or ‘cash for car’ service for a quote and to arrange drop off or collection. Some companies pay approximately $50 for a car that they collect or $70 for a car that is dropped off.
GENERAL RUBBISH
Disposal of general rubbish at any of the Cradle Coast tips can cost from approximately $10. Some councils provide tip tickets to residents in their rates notices. Contact your local Council to enquire about disposal fees at your local waste transfer station.
Excess household recyclables such as cans, bottles and cardboard can be dropped off for free at most transfer stations.
Any reusable items can dropped off at a tip shop including Burnie, Central Coast and Spreyton, for resale or reuse.
GREEN WASTE
Green waste can be disposed of at your local waste transfer station.
It is fairly simple to home compost some garden waste such as lawn clippings, leaf litter and small prunings. There’s a Rethink Waste Tasmania fact sheet on Home Composting that you can use as a guide (see our Resources page for details).
FURNITURE
Furniture in usable condition can be sold or donated. Popular online classifieds for the sale of 2nd hand goods include Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace.
Many charity stores accept furniture and some such as the Salvation Army and St Vincent de Paul offer a free collection service.
Tip shops also accept reusable furniture.
The largest Waste Transfer Stations in Circular Head, Waratah-Wynyard, Burnie, Central Coast, Devonport, Kentish and Latrobe municipal areas all accept electronic waste (e.g. televisions, computers, monitors, printers and accessories) for free recycling drop-off.
Finding it difficult to physically move unwanted bulk items?
Commercial operators can be paid to take away unwanted goods. Household goods in usable condition may also be collected by some charities. Items posted on buy/sell/swap sites are also usually collected and may even be re-purposed or repaired.
Talk to a neighbour or friend about sharing a trailer load for disposal. Secure the load for transport and sort the materials in the trailer so they’re grouped together for quick and easy drop-off.
Seen rubbish dumped where it doesn’t belong?
Report dumping hotspots to your local council and together we can find ways to stop waste items from harming Tasmania’s soil, waterways and environment. Report it and let’s get it sorted!
Rethink Waste aims to improve our efforts at reducing, reusing and 
