Gregadoo Waste Management Supervisor Tamie Cook and Resource Recovery Facilities Manager Andrea Baldwin have called on the Wagga community to be mindful of their Christmas waste. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Wagga Wagga City Council is calling on families to make sure they separate their Christmas rubbish.
Christmas is the busiest time of year for the Gregadoo Waste Management Centre, with daily visitors almost tripling in number.
Gregadoo’s Resource Recovery Facilities Manager Andrea Baldwin said a lot more rubbish was generated over Christmas and families should be mindful of the three-bin system when disposing of their waste.
“The key is really, any waste that you generate over the Christmas period, you need to think about using your three-bin system,” she said.
“So, make sure that the food waste goes in your green bin. All that wrapping, and all your recycling, including your drink containers, etc, go into your recycling bin.
“We also ask that you keep your red bin for your things that are not recyclable. We can understand you’ll probably generate more rubbish than what the bins can handle. So just keep those for you know, the next time that the bins are collected.”
Gregadoo Waste supervisor Tamie Cook said that during the Christmas period, families could bring their cardboard and polystyrene to the centre for free.
“We ask that you put all your cardboard into the recycle bin. If you have a lot of it, you can bring it out here for free,” she said.
“All your polystyrene can also come out for free. Just place it in your boot and bring it out here.
“Everyone’s doing their shopping. Everyone’s buying toys and that. So there’s so much more recycling. Everyone’s recycle bins are getting full, but you don’t want to feed them into the landfill.”
A new polystyrene compactor will help the Wagga community to effectively repurpose plastic. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Aiding council’s effort to effectively recycle material is the addition of a new polystyrene compactor. The machine efficiently recycles polystyrene, making it easier to repurpose the plastic, which takes more than 1000 years to break down naturally.
“Polystyrene pollution is a major environmental problem, spreading quickly through wind and waterways,” Ms Baldwin said.
“The new compactor uses a conveyor belt feed system which can handle up to 200 kg per hour, allowing us to process material faster than ever, rendering it into a safe, stable and recyclable form.”
NSW EPA Director of Circular Economy Programs Sam Lewis said the purchase of the compactor would help save landfill space and allow polystyrene to be transported for recycling.
“While polystyrene is a lightweight, recyclable material, it is difficult to handle and bulky, making it hard to transport to recycling facilities,” Mr Lewis said.
“These types of practical operational improvements help to transition to a cleaner, safer and more sustainable way of handling recyclable materials.”
Gregadoo Waste Management Centre will be closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, but will remain open otherwise from 7 am to 4:30 pm, seven days a week.
