More than 760 residents contributed enough paper, cardboard, plastic containers, glass bottles and aluminium cans to fill 1,130 yellow-lid recycling bins at Campbelltown Council’s recyclables drop off day on January 2.
As an additional service, polystyrene was also accepted on the day, although it’s not collected as part of council’s regular kerbside recycling program.
More than 50 per cent of residents had polystyrene to dispose of, contributing 110 cubic metres of the material – equivalent to 786 garbage bins – which will be sent to a specialised company for recycling.
All up there was a massive 51 per cent increase on last year’s participation numbers and 13 tonnes of recyclable materials diverted from landfill and collected for recycling.
The service, which aims to promote good recycling habits and assist residents with their post-Christmas clean-up, was held at the regular venue, Coronation Park, Minto.
Mayor of Campbelltown, Cr Paul Hawker, hailed this year’s collection, the largest since the initiative started in 2009.
“The initiative has proven popular in previous years – but this year the response was exceptional,’’ the mayor said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Staff were overwhelmed by the number of residents who embraced the recycling message and turned out to do the right thing for the environment,” Cr Hawker said.[/social_quote]
“This initiative has significantly reduced the amount of recyclable waste that is sent to landfill, and we’ll continue to hold the event every January, possibly even expanding it to make it quicker and easier for residents to drop off their recyclables.
“Council is committed to working with residents to increase recycling awareness and promote sustainable practices, and provides a variety of waste and recycling programs to support residents to protect the environment,” Cr Hawker said.
For more information on council’s recycling programs, visit its waste and recycling website.
