By Ali Manns
Westies enjoy the convenience of a kerbside bin service that whisks our waste away on a weekly basis. But if you’ve ever visited a tip (and I urge you to do so for perspective), you’ve been confronted by the stark (and pungent) reality that there is no ‘away’. There is merely a saddening mountain of stuff that, despite being crushed, mixed and piled, is not going anywhere.
The recycling and FOGO bins next to our refuse bin might help us feel better about our efforts to do the right thing. But the truth is modern life and its effects generate a lot of material things which, come the end of their life with us, are not accepted in those bins either.
From waste to resource recovery
Be it empty toothpaste tubes, obsolete phone chargers or leftover paint thinners, disposing of many household things can appear challenging. If it’s unusable, broken beyond repair, or plain dangerous, where can it go if not in the rubbish bin?
Fortunately, there are local means to recycle many items which can direct their valuable materials to a future other than landfill. In the cases above via Altona Library, Officeworks and Detox Your Home events respectively. It takes a little more effort than walking to the bin but offers a huge feel-good factor in return. After all, accepting responsibility for our waste is just the ethical thing to do.
To help you locate them, below is a guide to recycling options accessible in the west. Depending on the item, there are a range of options from council to corporate programs. And although some large items might require a fee to recycle, most common household items can be recycled through partners that offer free and easily accessible services.
Council
Your first stop should be your local Council website. Each of them list some additional recycling offerings beyond their kerbside bins. These range from recycling via Hard Rubbish collection in Wyndham, to sorting stations at the Maribyrnong Cleanaway tip to Hobsons Bay’s Recycling Made Easy collection points at libraries and other venues. As the categories of items accepted vary from council to council it is worth visiting each council website for specific information. They generally cover a range of items from e-waste and white goods/metal to textiles and fluorescent light tubes.
Planet Ark
If your item is not a fit for the above and remains a mystery, next search Planet Ark’s site recyclingnearyou.com.au. The interactive directory of almost 50 categories on the Materials page links to a map of recyclers or collection points near your postcode. The categories range from aerosols to x-rays.
Cosmetics packaging and soft plastics
Terracycle.com is another online resource with a search map to find local collection points for items as diverse as cosmetics, razors and detergent packaging; toothbrushes, pet food bags and balloons. Some are product-specific in-store locations sponsored by big brands. And others are mixed hubs hosted by local community groups at public venues such as that at Altona Library. There is also information provided on establishing a new collection point at your home, place of work or school.
Toxic items
Household chemical waste needs particular care to be disposed of safely and Sustainability Victoria holds Detox Your Home events annually at 33 locations across Victoria. The closest venue is in Altona but any event can be accessed with prior registration. An extensive list of the accepted and unaccepted items, as well as the event dates can be found at sustainability.vic.gov.au/detoxyourhome. The range of acceptable items include cleaning products, cosmetics, fire extinguishers, garden and pool chemicals, garage and hobby materials.
Blister packs
Anyone on medication is conscious of this significant waste product. Fortunately, Pharmacycle is a recycling program actively harvesting the valuable aluminium foil that covers every pack. Chemist Warehouse in Footscray and Altona Gate as well as National Pharmacy in Williamstown are three collection points in the Inner West. More can be found at pharmacycle.com.au/find-a-location.
Small e-waste
Officeworks stores have hubs to deposit used small items such as phones, cables, ink and printer cartridges, hard drives, CD/DVD, pens and batteries. Through the Bring It Back program larger electrical items such as printers, keyboards, laptops, monitors and motherboards can also be recycled.
ALDI also hosts collection point for mobile phones and batteries.
Soft plastics
At the time of writing, the Coles/Woolworths/Aldi soft plastics collection scheme to replace the failed REDcycle program is currently being trialled at stores in 12 Melbourne suburbs, the closest being Flemington. Time will tell if the scheme gains momentum.
The many Rs of waste avoidance
The great ambition and enormous failure of the REDcycle scheme highlighted how important it is not to rely on recycling as the answer to our waste problem. In fact, in the hierarchy of managing waste, recycling sits as one of the least desirable options. The more impactful alternatives being refusing to consume the material/product in the first place, and reusing, repurposing or repairing it as necessary.
If you are interested in taking more control of your waste there is a growing community joining the Zero Waste movement, which strives to incorporate this ethos into every lifestyle decision. For inspiration and advice from locals, there is the Zero Waste Westies group on Facebook.
And if reading on the topic would bolster your commitment, the Enviro-Centre at Altona Library has you covered on every topic from building, eating and growing to parenting, making and mending for waste reduction.
It might not be practical to move through every day of our lives leaving nothing but footprints. But, we can aim to consume consciously and for the stuff we acquire to take a circular journey instead of a one-way path to landfill.
