Released 18/03/2021
Today is world recycling day and Canberrans are urged to make the ACT a more sustainable and liveable place by reducing garbage waste and recycling correctly.
Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel said that recycling is critical to diverting waste from landfill which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the ACT’s natural environment.
“Canberrans are great recyclers and most people in our community do a fantastic job contributing to making the ACT a more beautiful and sustainable place to live,” Minister Steel said.
While 96 per cent of Canberrans believe they know all there is to know about recycling, we still get the recycling process wrong one in five times.
“This may not sound like much, but every contaminant found in our recycling materials can cause serious safety issues for staff and hinder the efficiency of our recycling processes,” Minister Steel said.
“This year the Government will be stepping up education on how to ‘recycle right’ to help reduce contamination and inform the community on how to avoid waste in the first place.”
Minister Steel said the new statistics released today were from a survey of more than 600 Canberra residents, 86 per cent of which said they wanted to take more action to reduce their waste and recycle more.
“This is an increase of 12% from the same survey in 2017 which found that 74% of people were willing to take more action to reduce their waste,” Minister Steel said.
“Importantly, 89 percent of Canberrans said they were aware of the ACT’s container deposit scheme which has helped increase resource recovery and reduce litter since it began in mid-2018.
“In addition, our new bulky waste service has helped Canberrans dispose and recycle more than 1800 pieces of furniture, 400 appliances and more than 250 pieces of outdoor equipment, many of which have been donated to charity.
“From July legislation will be in place to phase out single use plastics items in the ACT, bulky waste will be collected from every suburb, and the Government is currently in the process of developing a food and organic waste collection scheme for the ACT.
“All of these initiatives are helping Canberrans become better recyclers, helping our environment, reducing green house gases and contributing to developing a stronger circular economy.”
To find out how you can recycle right visit: www.act.gov.au/recyclopaedia.
Full survey results will be released to the public in coming weeks.
- Statement ends -
Chris Steel, MLA | Media Releases