Recycling education will be a significant feature as Veolia Environmental begins its new contract providing kerbside recycling and waste collection services in Mount Alexander Shire.
Executives with the multinational waste services provider made themselves known in person at last Thursday’s public event hosted by the council in Castlemaine to mark the beginning of the new contract from this week.
As communities across Australia grapple with the urgent issues of waste and recyclables management, the council plans to work with Veolia to educate local residents about how best to deal with their recyclables – particularly how to avoid contamination.
Across the shire local residents generate 3900 tonnes of general waste and 1700 tonnes of recyclables annually – and under the new contract the waste will now be headed to Veolia’s Patho Landfill site near Echuca, while recyclables will go to the company’s materials recycling facility in Echuca.
“That takes the full range of recyclables which are sorted for various re-uses,” Simon Tori, Veolia’s group general manager for Victoria and Tasmania, told the Midland Express.
With China no longer accepting Australian recyclables due to contamination issues, Mr Tori said the challenge was to eradicate contamination through public education.
He said Veolia would aim to deliver this kind of education in partnership with the council, particularly through local schools.
“We currently do this with the Shire of Campaspe and so for us this will be an extension of that,” he said.
“Education is the key to reducing contamination.
“Our commitment is to regional Victoria where we see our company headed.
“The challenge is to reduce the amount of waste to landfill.”
Mount Alexander Shire’s acting director of infrastructure and development Ben Grounds said local residents could now expect to see different waste and recycling trucks driving around the shire – complete with their Indigenous art design as a feature of the duco.
“People can still continue to drop off waste and recyclable material at the Castlemaine Waste Facility in the same way they have always done,” Mr Grounds said.
He also encouraged locals to think twice before throwing items in the bin.
“Most of us can reduce the amount of waste we create, so let’s aim to reuse and recycle,” Mr Grounds said.
“And don’t forget to compost your kitchen scraps or set up a worm farm in your backyard.”
