Did you know WA households are responsible for about one-third of the 4.6 million tonnes of waste generated every year in WA? This is equivalent to about 630 kgs per person per year or about ten times the weight of an average adult!

In the Perth metro area, only about one third of that waste is recycled. How is that done? The contents of your yellow lid bin are taken to a sorting facility where materials are sorted and bailed ready for sale or further processing.  Not everything that can be recycled goes in your kerbside bin. Items like e-waste and batteries contain precious metals that can be recycled via specialist processing at your local recycling centre.

Many councils send their other bins to facilities to recover organics placed in the bins and have this material turned into compost and used in WA. This is often done through a lime green lidded bin designated either for garden organics (GO) or for both food organics and garden organics (FOGO).

Remember – every year, each one of us is currently generating about six times the healthy adult body weight in waste material destined for landfill. That’s a huge waste of a precious resource!

References:

National Waste Report 2018 https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/waste-resource-recovery/national-waste-reports/national-waste-report-2018

Heart foundation BMI Calculator https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/your-heart/know-your-risks/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator