Canterbury-Bankstown bin scandal: Confidence in recycling system rocked

Revelations Canterbury-Bankstown bin collectors had regularly mixed 700 recycling bins with general waste is set to damage recycling efforts, with community confidence in the system rocked.

Following revelations 700 recycling bins had been regularly mixed with general waste by Canterbury-Bankstown bin collectors for the best part of the decade, the real problem could be a loss of community confidence in the system.

Australian Council of Recycling CEO Suzanne Toumbourou said the scandal could have shattered residents confidence in the recycling system, leading to more people to not bother.

“Councils invest a lot in getting people to recycle right,” she said.

“This activity can be really destructive, not just by not delivering what the community expects, but giving the impression that their efforts to do the right thing aren’t delivering outcomes.”

It comes as the preliminary findings of a council investigation into the bin scandal found only one per cent of bins in the area were being wrongly mixed, due to a combination of narrow streets and hard-to-service routes needing to be completed during daylight hours.

Ms Toumbourou told the Canterbury-Bankstown Express when people don’t believe in the recycling system, they are less likely to make the effort to sort their waste.

“I’ve seen with my own eyes how those materials are delivered to facilities. I don’t want people to be persuaded not to recycle right,” Ms Toumbourou said.

But what is the issue with waste being mixed, if it’s sorted properly at the other end?

Recycling bins have been mixed with general waste for the best part of a decade.

Ms Toumbourou said at best, it was a waste of resources with recycling companies required to sort and remove landfill-bound waste and spend the money to deliver it there.

“At the worst end, it’s an absolute hazard that threatens recycling plants and safety,” she said.

Mayor Khal Asfour said the council was committed to winning back community confidence, shown through how the problem has been identified and solutions put in place.

“The preliminary findings showed that those bins affected by mixing general and recycled waste into the same truck were in narrow streets and laneways that were difficult to access,” he said.

“But now all recycling bins, as well as any missed bins, will be collected by dedicated recycling trucks and taken to our recycling processing facility.”

Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Barbara Coorey. Picture: Matthew Vasilescu

The mayor said the practice of mixing waste started in the former Canterbury Council.

Independent councillor Barbara Coorey — who had a previous stint as deputy mayor of Canterbury Council — denied Mr Asfour’s claim and also cast doubt on the suggestion 700 recycling bins were regularly mixed with general waste.

The council is pushing forward with plans to install cameras and an artificial intelligence system in its truck which would identify contaminants in the waste stream.

According to the council, 6000 photos would be processed in the cloud every day however the artificial intelligence needs to be trained further to correctly identify objects.