Do you know what can & can’t be recycled? Do you ever go to your recycling bin and think ‘Can I put this in here?‘ or wonder ‘How can I dispose of a battery’?
If more things get recycled fewer valuable resources are sent to landfill. Do you know where to look to see if something can be recycled?
The first place you can look is on your local council’s website or give them a call or send an email. You can also check with the waste management company that services your area or check out the Recycle Right Website if you live in South Australia or Planet Ark‘s Recycling Near You.
An easy way to reduce how much waste you send to landfill is by having labels on or near your bins, showing what can and can’t go into each of them. See the websites included in this post to get ideas for labels.
Video Description: ‘Pivot: Let’s Recycle Right- Recycling is the No. 1 action we can take for the environment, the economy, and our future on this planet. If we recycle more and recycle “right,” more companies will be able to start using recycled materials in their manufacturing, rather than depleting limited natural resources. Recycling right creates jobs, saves water, energy, and money, and can improve our health and the well-being of all species.’
Recycle Right SA
Recycle Right is funded by Green Industries SA and partnered with KESAB (Keep South Australia Beautiful). Visit www.recycleright.sa.gov.au or phone 1300 137 118 to get answers to your recycling questions.
On their website you can put in your suburb and what item you would like to know if you can recycle and it will tell you which bin to put it in or where you can take it to be recycled. Also on the website is Recycle Right Icons, a link to their My Local Services App, Recycling Tips and a YouTube video about what happens when you recycle.
Video Description: ‘Over 70% of SA’s waste gets recycled. But a lot of valuable resources that could be recycled are still going to landfill. Watch the video and see what happens to your recycling once it’s picked up by a truck and then sorted by hand and machinery. Don’t let your recycling go to waste. Recycle Right.’
From the Recycle Right Website:
Yellow Recycling Bin
Using your yellow kerbside recycling bin is a great way to save resources, water and energy. But please make sure that only the right items are placed in the recycling bin. Read the fact sheet for advice on how to ‘Recycle Right’: 
Yellow Bin Recycle Right Fact Sheet | See more on the Recycle Right Website
Green Organics Bin
Garden organics recycling is a great way to help our environment. The key to its success is ensuring that the right items are placed in the green organics bin, learn more about how to Recycle Right in South Australia – Green Organics Bin Fact Sheet | See more on the Recycle Right Website
The Truth about Plastics
Many of us have been tricked into using the triangular symbol with a number inside to identify what can be recycled. But this symbol is NOT a recycling symbol. It is a plastics identification code used to tell manufacturers what type of plastic the item is made from.
Fact Sheet – Plastics | See more on the Recycle Right Website
KESAB
Check out the ‘STUFF AT HOME – put it in the right bin’ interactive house by KESAB.
Planet Ark: Recycling Near You
Planet Ark has a website (like Recycle Right’s) Recycling Near You where you can find what you can & can’t recycle in your household recycling services and search for drop-off locations to recycle a wide range of items e.g. e-waste, batteries, printer cartridges.
You can search by materials or find your local council. They also have a Info Portal which includes War on Waste Tips.
On Planet Arks websites (Recycling Week, Business Recycling & Schools Recycle) they have Adaptable Recycle Right Posters, Bin Signage, Fact Sheets, Recycle Right Quiz and Schools Recycle Right: Getting Started Guide.
East Waste’s: ‘Which Bin?’
East Waste (Eastern Waste Management Authority) developed an education campaign ‘Why Waste it?’ so the councils they service (Adelaide Hills Council, City of Burnside, Campbelltown City Council, City of Mitcham, City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters, City of Prospect, Town of Walkerville) can reduce the amount of waste that they send to landfill.
They have a website – Which Bin? – which has a A-Z Guide that helps people know what can go in which bin so that valuable resources can be made into reusable & recyclable materials instead of being wasted.
They also have Printable Educational Resources which includes DL Flyers, A4 Posters, Banners, Bin Stickers, A-Z Recycling Guide and Fact Sheets. Also see their Recycling Tips and also their Blog.
Video Description: ‘City of Onkaparinga: Beyond the Bin- When you wheel your bins out to the kerb, do you ever think about what happens to its contents? Where does it go? What happens to it? Where does it end up?’
1 Million Women
Five golden rules to help solve your recycling dilemmas:
For more information see the whole article on the 1 Million Women Website.
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