Brisbane City Council helps all your recycling needs

Written on the 13 November, 2008

Recycling need no longer be an area of confusion, with the launch of a comprehensive recycling directory from Brisbane City Council to mark national recycling week.

City Business and Water Supply Chair David McLachlan said the directory was a commitment by Council to make Brisbane Australia’s most sustainable city by recycling more and reducing waste to landfill.

He said many people were unsure what could be recycled.

“We’ve designed the recycling directory to remove any uncertainty – it’s focussed on helping people learn what to do with everyday items such as batteries and clothing,” Cr McLachlan said.

“Next time you’re thinking of throwing out those reading glasses or kids toys, think again because they can be recycled and the directory can tell you where to take them.”

Cr McLachlan said recycling not only helped reduce landfill but helped save energy and reduce carbon footprints.

“If you manufacture plastic from recycled materials it uses just 30 per cent of the energy required to make plastic products from fossil fuels,” he said.

Cr McLachlan said for National Recycling Council also wanted people to recycle more in their yellow-lidded bins.

“Aluminium cans take a massive 600 years to decompose, steel cans up to 500 years and bottles, jars and plastic an indefinite time,” he said.

“But these products all too often end up in the general waste bin instead of the yellow lidded recycling bin - with around a third of your rubbish bin actually recyclable.”

“Making aluminium from used cans rather than from raw bauxite takes 95 per cent less energy and steel from recycled steel takes 75 per cent less energy.

“And yet Brisbane’s least collected recyclable product is metals at only 2.5 per cent of total collections.”

Recycling Statistics

• In 2007/2008 Brisbane collected 44985 tonnes of paper and cardboard, 24500 tonnes of glass, 2344 tonnes of plastic 1727 tonnes of metal, 1170 tonnes of steel, and 434 tonnes of aluminium.

• Brisbane’s most frequently recycled product is paper and cardboard at almost 60 per cent of total collections, with newspapers comprising over half. A 5 cent sized piece of ovenproof glass can contaminate one tonne of normal glass, making it useless for recycling.

• Recycling one tonne of paper and cardboard saves 13 trees and 31,000 litres of water.

• If everyone in Australia recycled their newspaper every day, we could save almost 2 Million trees per year.

• The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle is enough to light a 100 watt bulb for 4 hours. (24 500 tonnes of glass was collected in 07/08 in Brisbane).