Reduce, reuse, recycle
The three steps: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
Glass
Plastic
Alumininum
Other metals
Paper
Your role
More information
Do you know how much waste you make? You and every other Australian contribute around one tonne of waste each year - a mixture of household garbage and industrial waste created by things we buy or use. It’s becoming more difficult and expensive to find new refuse tips for our waste.
Waste disposal is a major issue for the government and the community. If we minimise waste by avoiding and reducing waste, and re-using and recycling, we can cut waste by up to 50 percent — and even more if we compost.
Reducing waste also reduces litter. Remember, everything you drop can find its way to beaches, roads, waterways, bushland and parks through the stormwater system.
The three steps
Reduce
Avoid waste — look for ways of producing and using goods that stop waste being generated.
Reduce waste — choose products that can be used productively, recycled in your area, and have minimal packaging.
Re-use
Re-use containers, packaging or waste products.
Recycle
Recycle waste material into useable products.
For waste that can't be avoided, reused or recycled
Treat the waste to make it less hazardous or reduce the volume of the hazardous component. Dispose of the waste safely.
Reduce
Want to help our environment? The most effective way is to reduce your waste before it becomes rubbish.
- Become informed about the environmental impacts of the products you buy. If you’re not satisfied, search for better alternatives.
- Bulk buy when possible, but don't buy more than you can use.
- Choose products with less packaging.
- Choose products with recyclable or reusable packaging.
- Carry reusable shopping bags or boxes.
- Say 'no' to unnecessary plastic bags and other packaging.
- Re-use plastic bags and all types of containers over and over again.
- Buy quality goods that will last.
- Encourage manufacturers to play their part.
Buy recycled goods
Recycled goods have already saved resources and raw materials and helped reduce the overall quantity of waste. Remember, `recycled' means the product is made partly or wholly from recycled materials and `recyclable' means the product is capable of being recycled. If you don't make an effort to buy recycled goods, you're not really recycling.
Reduce energy and water use
Reducing your waste also means saving resources. Energy Information Centres can give you information on reducing your energy consumption in the home by switching to high-efficiency fluorescent light bulbs, using cold water for washing, and cooking efficiently.
Large amounts of water can be saved at home by fixing leaking taps, using dual-flush toilets, running washing machines and dishwashers only when full, turning the tap off while cleaning your teeth, and using a control nozzle on your hose when washing the car or the dog. Design your garden to be water-efficient.
Re-use
- Look for products in reusable, refillable or recyclable packaging when you shop.
- Donate unwanted clothing, furniture and white goods to charities.
- Enquire if goods can be repaired rather than replaced.
- Hold a garage sale.
- Use rechargeable batteries rather than single-use batteries and ask your local council about how to dispose of batteries properly.
- Use retreaded tyres if they are appropriate to your driving.
- Use glass bottles and jars, plastic bags, aluminium foil and take away food containers over and over again before recycling or disposing of them.
- Carry your lunch in a reusable container rather than disposable wrappings.
- Re-use envelopes and use both sides of paper.
Recycle
Recycling recovers materials used in the home or in industry for further uses. You should only recycle after you’ve tried to reduce and reuse.
Why recycle?
Recycling has environmental, economic and social advantages.
- Recycling generates civic pride and environmental awareness.
- Recycling helps prevent environmental pollution.
- Recycling saves natural resources.
- Recycling conserves raw materials used in industry.
- Making products from recycled ingredients often uses much less energy than producing the same product from raw materials.
- Recycling reduces the amount of material dumped in landfill sites and helps our waste disposal problems.
- Goods are used productively and prevented from becoming litter and garbage.
How do I recycle?
Recycling is easy once you know how. First, call your local council to find out what recycling facilities exist in your area.You may have a kerbside collection system, or a community drop-off system. Kerbside collection of recyclables involves placing your recyclables out on the footpath for collection on a set day - just like a normal garbage collection.
Your council will provide you with a recycling container and will tell you what can and cannot be included for collection. The usual items include all glass jars and bottles, aluminium and steel cans, PET plastic soft drink bottles and HDPE plastic milk and detergent bottles. It may also be possible to include paper, light cardboard, newspapers and 'junk' mail, and milk and fruit juice cartons.
Community drop-off centres require a little more effort. You will need to store your recyclables at home and then take them to the drop-off centre. Remember to take your boxes and bags home with you from the drop-off centre to prevent litter, and do not mix any non-recyclables with the recyclables.
- Separate your recyclables such as glass, plastic, paper and metal from other rubbish - depending on what your local council will collect.
- Recycle your kitchen and garden scraps, which can make up almost 50 percent of your garbage, as compost.
- Get involved in local school and community recycling schemes.
- Keep potentially hazardous household waste such as motor oil, batteries, pesticides and paint out of landfill sites - your council will provide information on how to dispose of them safely.
- Encourage your friends and family to get involved in recycling at home, at school and in the workplace.
What can I recycle?
Most items can be recycled — but only when there’s a market for the finished product. So, make sure you buy products that foster the recycled market.
Glass
100 percent recyclable. Household bottles and jars are made from a melted mixture of silica (sand), soda ash and limestone. Glass manufacturers can use your old glass in this process.
Multi-fill bottles such as some beer bottles can be rewashed and refilled. Single-fill containers, made of thinner glass, are separated into clear and coloured glass and broken down for cullet (used broken glass).
When you recycle glass:
- recycle all glass containers, not just bottles;
- rinse containers;
- remove contaminants such as lids, corks and caps - labels can remain;
- sort glass into refillable and recyclable (check message on bottles to see which type they are);
- find out if your local school, scouts or guides collect glass for fundraising;
- take glass to collection points or support kerbside schemes; and
- place only glass in bins - contaminants such as ceramics china plates and cups can ruin a batch of glass because they melt at a different rate to glass and can weaken the recycled glass.
Plastic
More than 60 types. New plastics and uses, constantly being developed.
Different types of plastic must generally be kept separate for recycling. The Plastics Industry Association has introduced a voluntary system of product coding to help recyclers and the public.
- PET Polyethylene Terephthalate
- HDPE High Density Polyethylene
- UPVC Unplasticised Polyvinyl Chloride
PPVC Plasticised Polyvinyl Chloride - LDPE Low Density Polyethylene
- PP Polypropylene
- PS Polystyrene
EPS Expanded Polystyrene - Includes all other resins and multi materials (eg laminates)
The two types of plastic most commonly recycled in Queensland are PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and HDPE (high density polyethylene). PET is commonly used for soft drink packaging (the rocket bottom bottle) and HDPE is used to make plastic milk and detergent bottles. Other types of plastic can be recycled, but are not recycled in the same quantities.
When you recycle plastic:
- first, re-use plastic containers and bags;
- sort your plastic into different types - follow the instructions at the drop-off centre or the instructions provided for your kerbside collection;
- rinse containers and remove lids (lids are often a different type of plastic);
- ask your supermarket to recycle plastic bags; and
- look for the code number on any plastic item you buy and try to choose those which can be recycled in your local recycling program.
Aluminium
Can be recycled over and over again.
Much energy is used to produce primary aluminium from bauxite. Once in metallic form, aluminium can be recycled indefinitely.
Recycling aluminium uses only 5 percent of the energy needed to produce new aluminium. This saves coal in energy production in power stations and reduces emissions to the atmosphere.
Around Queensland, sell cans at 'Cash for Cans' and 'Cash-a-Can' centres or put them in kerbside collections or drop-off centres. Find out if your school collects cans for fund raising.
For information on the National Steel Can Recycling Campaign click here www.steelcans.com.au. By the year 2000, the Campaign aims to recycle 45% of the steel cans Australians use every year. The Campaign is a joint initiative of environment group Planet Ark and the Steel Can Recycling Council.
When you recycle aluminium:
- place aluminium cans in a recycling bin, not your wheelie bin;
- encourage your school or workplace to recycle aluminium cans; and
- remove foreign objects (e.g. straws) that could ruin new aluminium.
Other metals
Metal recycling has been around since swords were first beaten into ploughshares.
Salvaging and reusing metals such as lead, copper and steel makes economic sense.
Metal recycling also makes environmental sense. Processed metals and many alloys require less energy to recycle than to mine and process. This conserves our raw material resources for the future.
Lead can be recycled from old car batteries. Service stations and car battery retail outlets will generally accept car batteries for trade-in, or you can take them yourself to a metal recycler for recycling. Do not empty out battery acid before delivering the batteries to a collector.
Don't throw away copper from hot water systems, copper pipes or old car radiators - take them to a scrap metal dealer. Electric cabling and wiring contains copper and aluminium, which can be recycled. The plastic coating found on some wiring can be removed by metal recyclers in a process called 'granulation'. Using this process, the plastic is removed and the copper, aluminium and any steel present are separated magnetically for recycling.
Brass retrieved from old household fittings can be restored for use in old houses.
Steel and iron can be reclaimed from car bodies and engines, disused household or industrial equipment and building materials. Most household steel scrap is in the form of human and pet food cans. Scrap metal dealers may take clean, de-labelled cans but may not be able to offer payment for them. Steel cans, including aerosol, are accepted in many kerbside recycling programs.
For more information on programs such as the National Steel Can Recycling Campaign click here: www.steelcans.com.au
When you recycle metal:
- take it to your scrap metal dealer or local drop-off centre;
- ask if you can be paid for for returned metal goods; and
- remember that old car bodies and old fridges and freezers look better in a scrap metal yard than dumped in bushland.
- don’t include fire extinguishers, gas bottles, or shock absorbers — they have the potential to explode.
Paper
Plantation timber, not native forests, is the source of most paper-making pulp. Stronger, better quality paper is made from hardwoods. Softwoods produce shorter fibres suitable for paper such as newsprint.
Good quality paper is in demand with recyclers to produce a variety of recycled paper products such as printing and writing paper, office supplies such as envelopes, toilet paper and tissues. Lower grade paper is usually used to make products such as cardboard and insulation.
Demand for old newspapers can fluctuate. The short fibres in newsprint make it unsuitable for recycling uses other than packaging material, insulation material or being recycled back into newsprint.
When you recycle paper:
- make two-sided copies, use the blank side of used paper for notepaper before recycling, and re-use envelopes;
- set up an office paper recovery scheme to separate good quality office paper for further uses in areas where local markets or collection services exist; and
- use recycled paper where possible.
Your role
At home:
- check that the products you buy are the best choice for the environment (for example, does it save energy, conserve water, does it have recyclable content?);
- reject unnecessary packaging;
- re-use packaging;
- sort your rubbish;
- use your local recycling depot or kerbside service;
- compost kitchen and garden waste; and
- choose recycled goods whenever possible.
At school, you can:
- educate children to be responsible consumers and recyclers;
- promote litter control.
- educate parents and teachers, and
- support or initiate school recycling schemes.
At work, you can:
- press for more efficient use of resources such as energy and office paper;
- become informed about the potential for waste minimisation and recycling in your workplace;
- publicise issues through your staff newsletter; and
- initiate a recycling scheme.
Last updated: 11 January 2007
