Hume Council to investigate recycling reverse vending machine idea
A plan to offer incentives such as movie tickets and gym memberships to reward recycling will be investigated by a northern suburbs council as an alternative to sending materials to landfill. Here’s how you could score big by doing the right thing.
North
Don't miss out on the headlines from North. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Movie tickets and draws for gym memberships could be up for grabs in Hume under a proposal to increase recycling options.
The Hume Council will investigate a plan to install reverse vending machines after it was raised by councillor Joseph Haweil at a council meeting.
Instead of receiving drinks in bottles and cans from vending machines, users would instead insert their empty ones into the machine and receive a non-monetary prize in return.
RECYCLING GIANT SKM ENTER RECIEVERSHIP WITH HUGE DEBT
Cr Haweil said it would be an alternative to sending materials to landfill in the midst of the recycling crisis gripping the state.
He said each machine could hold up to 2000 bottles and could be installed at shopping centres or other public places.
It follows the lead of Wyndham Council, which has installed four of the machines across its municipality since 2016.
“These machines work just like a normal vending machine but in reverse, so the empty plastic bottles and aluminium cans placed into them are crushed by the machine,” Cr Haweil said.
MORE:
NO PUBLIC BAILOUT FOR RECYCLING GIANT
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: RECYCLING STOCKPILES REVEALED
“This will by no means deal with the crisis but … what is terrifying is that we have absolutely no alternative right now but to send a mountain of material that would have otherwise been recycled into the ground.”
Cr Haweil said each weekday the “equivalent of 7600 bins” of recycled materials were going to landfill in Hume.
“By all accounts the existing machines in Wyndham have been a real hit,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for us to show leadership in the face of the crisis and also incorporate diversity into our waste management strategy.”
MORE NORTHERN NEWS:
MICKLEHAM HERITAGE GRAVEYARD SOLD FOR JUST $1
GREENVALE DAD DELIVERS HIS DAUGHTER AT HOME
LA TROBE UNI TO BECOME CARBON-NEUTRAL
A report will be presented at an upcoming council strategy and policy briefing on the potential to run a trial of the machine with a view to incorporating the initiative into the waste management strategy.
Victoria currently doesn’t have a container deposit scheme like some other states.
jack.paynter@news.com.au