Recycling initiative to start in Maranoa

The war on plastic has intensified, with Maranoa councillors looking to implement a refund recycling scheme for plastic bottles by the end of this year.

Sarah Holt DSDMIP, Jody Dare DSDMIP, Robert Simpson, Geoff McMullen, Ray Howson, Kel Woodal RESQ and Rob Hayward met in Roma last week to discuss the container exchange.

THE war on plastic has intensified, with Maranoa councillors looking to implement a refund recycling scheme for plastic bottles by the end of this year.

The government initiative, which will extend across the state, is offering a 10 cent refund per empty drink container returned to the local refund point.

Robert Simpson from Container Exchange visited Roma last week to discuss the roll out of the scheme.

Maranoa councillor Geoff McMullen, who was present at the meeting, said the initiative was a step towards establishing recycling services in the bush.

"There are definitely a fair few plastic bottles in our dumps and any way we can reduce landfill will be greatly beneficial to our communities,” Cr McMullen said.

"I think this will also certainly open the door to other recycling opportunities in the region.

"The responsibility for the return on the containers is with the government, so kerbside is still under a different banner.”

Cr McMullen said the placement of the container was yet to be determined.

"We are looking for any individual or community group that may be interested in hosting the site to contact us,” he said.

"Depot operators will also receive six cents per plastic article returned, so it is a way to raise some money for the person or peoples operating the site.

"I think it will be a good scheme once it's implemented, there are a few things to nut out, but once that's finalised we can start to set up the depots.”

The scheme is due to come into effect in November, focusing on the recycling of 150ml to 3L size bottles.

The move comes as the government tries to clean-up Queensland's recycling record, which, at 44 per cent, is one of the lowest in Australia.

Interested parties should contact the council on 1300 007 662.

Originally published as Recycling initiative to start in Maranoa