Recycling and Garbage

Did you know that more than 75% of the domestic rubbish that we throw out could be recycled?

Reusing and recycling are simple but effective ways of being environmentally responsible and waste smart.

Avoiding contamination

It is very important not to mix garbage with your recyclable materials. Recycling that is 'contaminated' with rubbish is more expensive to sort than recyclables that are clean or uncontaminated.

After all the rubbish is removed from the material that arrives at the sorting centre the clean recyclables are sorted, baled and distributed to recycling companies.

The current level of contamination of recycling in Byron Shire is around 50%. Council has recently launched an education campaign to reduce this high level of contamination.

We all need to work together to bring this figure down.

What to recycle

Steel and Aluminium cans including aerosol cans
Glass bottles and jars
Milk and juice cartons
Newspaper, cardboard and magazines
Plastic bottles including soft drink bottles, milk and fruit juice plastic bottles marked 1 and 2

Help support recycling

One way to help recycling programs like ours is to make sure you buy products that can be recycled, or are made from or packaged in recycled materials. So when you are shopping, always check the labels and choose these products.