WAUCHOPE residents are being provided with an added incentive to recycle thanks to the installation of some new public place recycling bins.
The bins have been installed at Bain Park and Andrew Park thanks to a $10,000 grant from Keep Australia Beautiful for public place recycling.
Last year council used a similar grant to trial public place recycling on Port Macquarie’s Town Green with great success.
Both parks in Wauchope now feature a combination of easy-to-use waste and recycling bins allowing residents to recycle items such as bottles and cans as easily as they can at home.
Port Macquarie-Hastings mayor Peter Besseling said the bins were aesthetically very pleasing and in line with council’s waste strategy.
“It is one of our planned programs and we will continue to roll out public place recycling around the area as new sites are developed,” he said after inspecting the new bins.
“I am pleased that the council can offer a new service to Wauchope residents and to those people visiting the area.”
Public place recycling bins are also earmarked for the Town Beach Reserve in Port Macquarie and for the Town Green once the Town Green Masterplan has been completed.
The Keep Australia Beautiful community grants program, funded by Coca-Cola, is now in its fourth year with $440,000 shared across 71 local communities nationally in 2013.
“For many people, the barrier to recycling when they are out and about is simply due to a lack of recycling bins in public places,” Keep Australia Beautiful NSW CEO David Imrie said.
“When you consider that recycling one tonne of glass saves 1.1 tonnes of raw materials and 30 per cent energy use, and recycling one plastic drink bottle saves enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes, it’s clear we need the right infrastructure in place to assist people with recycling,” he said.
