ONE MILLION REASONS TO RECYCLE

Congratulations are in order! Australian Green Clean has picked up over one million recycling items so far at events in 2018 across Australia!

DID YOU KNOW?

Recycling just one aluminium can saves enough energy to run a household television for 3 hours, whereas 1 can going to landfill will remain there for 500 years before it oxidises.  Those are some pretty extreme stats!

Australians use 3 billion aluminium cans each year, and we are pretty good with our recycle rate of almost 2 out of 3 cans. 

Recycling aluminium is important because it allows for the saving of energy and consequently the reduction of harmful greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere contributing to global climate change. Although the use of recycled materials is better for our environment, much of production opts for virgin materials which are often cheaper to use. It’s a bit of a shame as reusing existing aluminium cans uses just 5% of the energy required to produce a new can from scratch. What’s more, aluminium cans can be perpetually recycled! Forever!

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO? - RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE!

If you are in South Australia, there are depots all around the state you can take your cans and bottles to in order to receive a 10c reward per unit. South Australia’s container deposit scheme has been running for over 40 years, and understandably, drink containers make up only 17% of SA’s litter. 

The Northern Territory, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory all have implemented drink container deposit schemes, too.

Queensland’s recycling rate is sitting at 44%, one of the lowest in Australia. Things are looking up with a container refund scheme set to start 1 November 2018 so head to your nearest recycling depot!

In Western Australia, drink containers make up over 35% of the state’s litter. Drink container deposit scheme is set to be implemented prior to the beginning of 2020. 

So good things are happening around Australia today!

Victoria and Tasmania are not currently initiating a bottle and can deposit scheme, but here’s to hoping! 

Here’s to a zero waste to landfill future!