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What goes around comes around this National Recycling Week

Published on 25 October 2023

Recyclable materials being put into a recycling bin

Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week runs from Monday 13 November to Sunday 19 November. This year, they are celebrating over 25 years of helping Australians recycle right.

Council is encouraging residents to celebrate recycling in a way that is meaningful to them. Whether you join a recycling themed event, brush up on your recycling knowledge or discover new tricks to cut down on waste, improve recycling and reuse, it’s all about celebrating the important role recycling plays in our lives.

Keeping valuable materials out of landfill is a win-win!

Your Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) bin and blue-lidded recycling bin are vehicles for collecting valuable materials. They help keep these materials out of landfill so that new items can be made and used.

There is also a huge benefit for the environment, with greenhouse gas emissions being reduced as a result.

So, how can we use bins - like our FOGO and recycling bins - as effectively as possible?

Recycle right

How you place your recyclables in your blue-lidded bin matters more than you may think. Recyclables in plastic bags cannot be sorted. Contents are unknown and they pose a safety risk to sorting staff. As a result, bags containing recyclables are re-directed to landfill and valuable resources are wasted.

That is why it is important to place your recyclables loosely in your recycling bin. Once processed, the materials are transformed into new things like roads, footpaths, glass jars, planter boxes and park benches.

Visit the Sustainability Victoria website for more recycling tips and tricks.

You can also attend Council’s free Recycle Right workshop on Friday 17 November. Registrations are essential.

FOGO waste for the win

Maroondah residents have embraced FOGO and are diverting food waste from landfill. Food waste placed in your FOGO bin is turned into compost to be used on Victorian farms and gardens.

Here are some reliable tips so that compost can be produced and used successfully:

Only use Council-supplied compostable liners for collecting your food waste and remove any packaging, plastic, rubber bands, string and wrapping.
Place garden material loosely in your FOGO bin so that it will be emptied completely.
Layer your food and garden waste to help prevent items from sticking to your bin.
Fill your FOGO bin enough so the lid can still close. This will keep animals out and ensure your bin can be emptied.

Visit Council’s website for more FOGO tips and tricks.

Plus, you can attend Council’s free Smart Storage to Reduce Waste workshop on Thursday 16 November. Book now to avoid disappointment.