MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire’s waste contractor is conducting a kerbside bin audit to measure contamination levels in household recycling bins. The audit is being carried out by EC Sustainable as part of the shire’s waste services contract. The contamination rate – calculated by weighing and sorting the contents of randomly selected bins – directly determines the fee the shire pays to have contaminated material removed from recycling loads. Last year, the contamination rate increased, adding $1m to the shire’s waste fees. “Last year’s bin inspections revealed that our contamination rate had increased, which added $1m to our waste fees. Instead of…
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VICTORIANS are throwing away thousands of dollars in potential refunds every day, with many eligible drink containers still ending up in household rubbish bins instead of being returned through Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme (CDS Vic). New research shows 1 in 5 Victorians are missing out on refunds because eligible containers such as flavoured milk bottles and juice boxes are often overlooked and discarded. Since CDS Vic launched in November 2023, almost 3 billion drink containers have been returned, putting nearly $300 million back into Victorians’ pockets. But with millions of eligible containers still being thrown away, there is a significant…
A RECYCLING truck fire in Bittern has reignited concerns about the dangers of hazardous waste being placed in household bins, marking the second such incident on the Mornington Peninsula in February. The fire occurred on Skinner St after lithium batteries, incorrectly disposed of in a kerbside recycling bin, ignited inside the collection vehicle about 10.15am on 12 February. With flames spreading quickly and no nearby open space to safely relocate the truck, the CFA told the driver to unload the truck’s contents onto the residential street. Emergency services attended and successfully extinguished the fire. Acting mayor Cr Paul Pingiaro said…
CHANGES to the design of plastic bottles will help prevent litter at local beaches and waterways, environmentalists say. Beach Patrol Australia says that plastic straws and drink bottle lids are among the most frequently littered items on Australian beaches. It says that caps tethered to plastic bottles would help prevent pollution.BPA co-founder Dr Ross Headifen said “we collect hundreds of lids on our beaches every day. By mandating tethered caps, we can significantly reduce plastic pollution, avoiding millions of bottle tops from leaking into our environments.” “Our volunteers simply can’t keep up, we need to stop plastic entering our oceans…