Do the right thing and use the right bin
Published on 09 January 2019
Rockhampton Regional Council is encouraging residents to ensure the waste from any New Year clean ups is disposed of correctly, after an incident this morning delayed bin collections in Norman Gardens.
Waste Committee Chair Councillor Neil Fisher said it provided a timely reminder to us all to do the right thing and use the right bin.
“Putting the wrong items in the wrong bin contaminates not only your bin but also the entire truck load, which means recyclable resources cannot be recovered and our environment is threatened with pollutants.
“It’s on all of us to help reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill, and ensuring we dispose of things in the right place is a great way to do this.
“We all know yellow is for recycling and red is for household waste, but Council also offers free disposal of a variety of items at our waste management facilities.
“You can bring things like batteries, paint, cooking and mechanical oils and gas bottles to the recycling area and drop-off where directed.
Cr Fisher said it was also about keeping those work hard to process our waste and recycling safe.
“A combination of hydrochloric acid, pool chemicals and the rain caused a small chemical fire in one of our trucks this morning.
“Thankfully the fire was contained and nobody was hurt, but there were delays and clearly it could have become quite dangerous.
“Please rinse any hydrochloric acid containers thoroughly, and ask your local pool maintenance shop if they would like any leftover pool chemicals you no longer need.
“In 2019 lets all work together to keep our environment clean and our workers safe.”
Commingled recycling should be placed in the yellow-lidded wheelie bin, this includes; paper, aluminium, glass, steel cans and plastics (labelled 1-7 in the recycling symbol) – no lids, no food scraps, no liquids. General everyday household waste should be placed in the red or dark green lidded wheelie bin. Commercial waste (including home renovation demolition) should be taken to a Council waste management facility and disposed of where directed.
Waste collection services may occur anytime between 6am and 6pm on day of scheduled service. Runs may not be completed in the usual order or timeframes that residents and businesses are used to. However, all scheduled services for today are still expected to be completed today.