SA households being urged to send more of their trash to recycling and the green bin, amid a 10 per cent rise in landfill
Life in lockdown has caused a Christmas holiday-level spike in landfill rubbish and now households are being urged to pick the right bin to help the environment – and even create jobs. Plus watch the two new Vin the Bin Ninja videos.
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Households are being urged to declare “war on waste” and send more of their trash to recycling and the green bin, amid a 10 per cent rise in landfill during lockdowns.
Environment and Water Minister David Speirs on Sunday said the levels of trash being produced was equivalent to the spike usually seen over the Christmas period.
The Government’s new ‘Which Bin’ campaign includes an educational video and website to help households better understand what trash should be sent where.
Mr Speirs said better waste management was good for the environment and jobs.
“With many South Australians spending more time at home in response to COVID-19 restrictions we have seen a spike in the amount of household waste,” he said.
“The new Which Bin campaign aims to better educate people on Which Bin is best for different items of household waste and improve our recycling and reuse.
“It’s good for the economy, with more than three times as many jobs created for every tonne of waste recycled or reused instead of going to landfill.”
He said the biggest area for improvement was food waste, with as much as 40 per cent of the material in SA waste bins that’s sent to landfill able to be diverted through the green bin.
Mr Speirs said simple things families could do included getting a kitchen caddy for scraps.
“By using our three kerbside bins more effectively local councils will save money by reducing landfill costs and for business the biggest savings are made by avoiding food waste in the first place,” he said, adding the cost of wasted materials was up to 10 times the cost of disposal.
The State Government has a target of zero avoidable waste to landfill by 2030.