Led by Mindarie Regional Council, the campaign encourages a culture of waste minimisation and fosters individual interest and engagement with waste and recycling beyond our rubbish bins.
Chair of Commissioners Eric Lumsden said involvement in the two-week trial of clear bins aligned well with priorities in the City of Perth’s Strategic Community Plan, including waste avoidance and maximising recycling.
“With the anonymity of traditional green bins, people can be less engaged with what they place in their bins and unaware of the impact we each have in minimising the amount of waste sent to landfill, especially in apartment living,” Mr Lumsden said.
“As a capital city Council, many of our residents opt for apartment lifestyles and this presents a unique challenge for the City of Perth’s waste management, so it is encouraging and exciting these residents have joined the conversation and volunteered to take part in this positive initiative.”
In addition to volunteering for the clear bins trial, several residents at Kingsway Gardens apartments opt for sustainable living initiatives, including a share library, worm farms, composting and keeping backyard chickens.
Mr Lumsden said collectively, small behavioural changes such as rinsing recycling or keeping recyclables loose in bins could make a significant impact, and there were many ways to implement small or big ideas that suit different lifestyles.
“To cater for the needs of our growing city in a sustainable way, we want the community to feel empowered to take ownership of their role in waste management and in this case, the impact of actually seeing household waste and recycling can be the start of an important conversation.”
The City of Perth is the first of seven Local Government Authorities participating in the clear bins trial to encourage people to not only consider how they recycle, but to reduce their creation of waste.
View the Waste and Recycling Guide to find out more about recycling in the City of Perth or visit Face Your Waste for information about the campaign.
Issued by: Caitlin Tiller, Corporate Communications Officer, Strategic Projects, 0437 814 514, Caitlin.tiller@cityofperth.wa.gov.au
Image: Chair of Commissioners Eric Lumsden with Kingsway Gardens residents who are among the first to trial clear bins for the Face Your Waste campaign.
Background:
The City of Perth is a member of Mindarie Regional Council (MRC), Western Australia’s largest waste management authority. MRC manages more than 250,000 tonnes of waste each year.
The Face Your Waste campaign will see seven Local Government Authorities join the clear bins trial in May and June.
Waste statistics:
On average, each Australian produces 541kg of waste every year - that's the weight of two baby elephants.
Australians throw away 3.3 million tonnes of food every year - a quarter of our national food supply.
113 disposable coffee cups are thrown away every second.
By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
Face Your Waste tips:
Avoid: The best way to deal with waste is to prevent it in the first place.
Reduce: Consider what you're buying and use alternatives that don't create waste. Only purchase what you need and before you make a purchase, check whether you can buy the item in a smaller quantity.
Reuse: Rather than throwing things away, we should check to see if it can be used again, repaired or repurposed.
Recycle: When we recycle something, we convert the item back into raw materials that can be used to create new products. Be sure to rinse your recycling and keep it loose in the bin, not bagged.
Recover: Some waste can be converted into energy, allowing us to recover some of the value of the material used to create it.