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).
- Of the kerbside bins assessed, 36% contained some form of contamination.
- Soft plastic was the most common contaminant found with 129 occurrences recorded per 1000 bins.
- Recycling packed inside plastic bags was the second most commonly occurring contaminant, followed by garbage and/or garbage in bags, foil food bags (a form of soft plastic) and foam meat trays.
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:
Rethink Waste aims to improve our efforts at reducing, reusing and