by Northern Beaches Council
The Northern Beaches Council has taken a significant step toward reducing waste and preserving the environment with the launch of its new campaign, Bin It Right. This initiative aims to tackle two major issues that affect waste management in the community: contamination of recyclables and the excessive amount of waste that ends up in landfills. By encouraging residents to make small but impactful changes in how they dispose of their rubbish and recyclables, the Council hopes to streamline waste sorting and promote sustainability.
While many Northern Beaches households are diligent about separating their waste, there is still confusion surrounding what can and cannot be recycled. For instance, items like soft plastics, batteries, and e-waste often end up in general waste bins when they could be handled through specialized recycling programs. Conversely, many items that find their way into yellow (recycling) and blue (paper and cardboard) bins are not recyclable, leading to contamination of otherwise recyclable materials. This confusion often results in items that could be recycled being sent to landfills, while non-recyclable materials end up contaminating recycling streams.
“Our community is passionate about the environment, with so many of us doing a great job of sorting our recycling and rubbish,” Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins said. “Despite our best efforts, we are still seeing too many non-recyclable items going in recycling bins and too many recyclables ending up in landfill.“
Mayor Heins acknowledges the community’s efforts but points out that there is still work to be done. A key goal of the ‘Bin It Right’ campaign is to simplify the process of waste sorting and reduce the margin for error. This initiative aligns with the Council’s broader sustainability goals, specifically its target to achieve a 70% resource recovery rate from household waste by 2030. According to Mayor Heins, achieving this ambitious target is critical, and residents play an essential role in making it happen:
“That’s why we’re rolling out a new campaign to help our community ‘bin it right’, to take the guess work out of sorting waste and recycling. We have an ambitious target to achieve a 70% resource recovery rate from household waste by 2030 of which recycling plays a key part – and we need your help to get there.”
To help, the campaign provides easy-to-follow guidelines on proper sorting, along with a user-friendly webpage for guidance which can be found here. By reducing contamination and increasing recycling, the Council aims to create a cleaner, greener future for the community.
Ultimately, Bin It Right is more than just a public service announcement – it’s a call to action. The success of the campaign will depend on the willingness of residents to adopt new habits and make small adjustments in their daily routines. But with the right tools and resources in hand, the Northern Beaches community is well-positioned to lead the way in responsible waste management.
Bin it right provides simple tips and tricks to make using household bins easier than ever before. Head to the easy-to-use webpage for clear instructions on what and where to dispose of the waste. As part of the campaign, Council is giving away bathroom sorting bins. Residents are encouraged to take the quiz and enter the recycling competition for a chance to win.
For more information visit the Bin it right webpage. The video play list is here.