Hinchinbrook Shire Council to reduce landfill waste with COEX PIF stations

A North Queensland council is implementing a simple yet effective program to prevent bin diving, make collecting used containers easier and reduce waste reaching rubbish dumps.

MAMS Group business manager Louise Lannen, Hinchinbrook Shire Councillor Pat Lynch and council waste education officer Craig Hutchings at Rotary Park in Ingham. Mr Hutchings said the container exchange (COEX) pay-it-forward stations in the form of baskets next to existing general rubbish bins had already replaced the recycling bins in locations such as Rotary Park in the Ingham CBD. Picture: Cameron Bates

A North Queensland council is implementing a simple yet effective program to prevent bin diving, make collecting used containers easier and reduce waste reaching rubbish dumps.

Hinchinbrook Shire Council waste education officer Craig Hutchings said the pilot program had proven so successful that it was being rolled out permanently with other regional councils, including Townsville and the Burdekin, looking to follow suit.

He said the container exchange (COEX) pay-it-forward stations in the form of baskets next to existing general rubbish bins had already replaced the recycling bins in locations such as Rotary Park in the Ingham CBD.

Mr Hutchings said Containers for Change Ingham, operated by MAMS Group, estimated that about 870,000 eligible 10-cent containers were being lost to landfill in Hinchinbrook each year.

The Hinchinbrook Shire Council has long warned ratepayers that they are facing significant rates increases if they continue to take a blasé approach toward managing and recycling household waste.

Hinchinbrook Shire Council waste education officer Craig Hutchings, MAMS Group business manager Louise Lannen and Hinchinbrook Shire Councillor Pat Lynch at Rotary Park in Ingham. Containers for Change Ingham, operated by MAMS, estimates that about 870,000 eligible 10 cent containers were being lost to landfill in Hinchinbrook each year. Picture: Cameron Bates

Mr Hutchings said increasing the efficiency of waste recycling was also of increasing importance, given the lifespan of the Warrens Hill Landfill and Resource Recovery Centre was projected to last just 10 more years.

“Maybe even less so we are in a race to keep as much (waste) out of the landfill as we can, and the pay-it-forward stations are a part of that.”

He said the local pilot modelled successful trials in Western Australia found that PIF stations increased container recycling rates, provided ‘pocket money’ for those in need, reduced litter in parks, reduced bin damage repair costs, and provided an easy and convenient way for consumers wanting to recycle but not interested in the 10-cent refund.

A new container exchange (COEX) pay-it-forward stations in the form of a basket next to existing general rubbish bins have already replaced the recycling bins in locations such as Rotary Park in the Ingham CBD. The PIF stations come in three varieties and have been rolled out around the Hinchinbrook Shire. Picture: Cameron Bates

MAMS Group business manager Louise Lannen said the initiative would provide a welcome boost to the popular Containers for Change program.

“I think this will stop people bin diving, which is a positive,” she said, “that infrastructure is extremely expensive to council”.

“Any scheme that council propose in future to try and divert waste from landfill will be a positive for both consumer and the environment.”

Councillor Pat Lynch said it fully backed the initiative and had been pleased with the results that included a 62 per cent decrease in the volume of recycling bins in Rotary Park and a 40 per cent decrease in containers being discarded in the waste bin.

“State and federally, it is now a big push to try take as much out of the waste stream and recycle it.”

He said the initiative would complement existing recycling efforts by MAMS and the council at Warrens Hill and Halifax.

Originally published as Hinchinbrook Shire Council to reduce landfill waste with COEX PIF stations