Installation of the recycling bins was made possible through a $15,050 grant provided by the Australian Packaging Covenant and Sustainability Victoria.

The aim of the project was to provide away from home recycling opportunities for local residents and visitors, and prevent litter within the Shire of Campaspe. 

Campaspe Shire Council also contributed $5,000 towards the project.

The project was successful in achieving its goal.

To measure the effectiveness of the new recycling bins, waste and litter audits were conducted, both before and after their installation.

The audit demonstrated that the additional recycling bins resulted in 28 kilograms of recyclable material being collected each week which would otherwise have been sent to landfill.

This equates to a total of 1,456 kilograms of recycling material taken out of the waste stream across the year.

The audit also demonstrated that the average weight of street waste bins reduced by 28 per cent.

We can confidently say that given the opportunity, people will do the ‘right thing’ when it comes to disposing of their rubbish and recyclables when bin choices are provided in public areas.

Increasing recycling rates not only serves to keep our public places clean and tidy, it diverts waste from landfill. This is good news for the environment and helps reduce Council’s landfill disposal costs.

A key part of the project’s success is the brightly coloured signage on the recycling bins, highlighting which items can and can’t be placed in the bins.

The yellow signage placed on the recycling bins makes it easy to recycle correctly.

Each sign clearly labels the bin for recycling purposes, displays the universal recycling symbol and includes illustrations of the types of items that can be placed inside the bins.

Items that can be recycled include aluminium cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles, newspaper, and juice and milk cartons.

Items that cannot be recycled include food scraps and plastic bags.

Other signs on the bins highlight interesting facts and figures about recycling such as:

* recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a CFL bulb for 30 hours.

In addition to the bin signage, Council will continue to educate the community on recycling away from home opportunities to ensure we can improve the shire’s resource recovery rates over time.

There are now 16 new recycling bins in public places across the shire - 12 in Echuca, two in Kyabram, one in Rochester and one in Rushworth.

The first eight bins were installed as part of the Regional Public Place Recycling Grant project, another initiative of the Australian Packaging Covenant and Sustainability Victoria.

It is clear that the Campaspe community has embraced the new recycling bins. And with 16 of them now in high traffic areas, we have the potential to divert more than 8 tonnes of recyclable resources from landfill every year - a win-win for all.

The Australian Packaging Covenant is a packaging initiative which aims to change the culture of business to design more sustainable packaging, increase recycling rates and reduce litter.

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