The Australian Organics Recycling Association (AORA) is calling for an extension of the Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) to include other glass containers including beer, wine, and soft drink bottles.
It’s also calling for the expansion of dedicated glass recycling services at local government level to ensure residents have access to a dedicated glass recycling solution directly from the household.
The push is part of AORA’s focus on problematic contamination within the organics feedstock stream that threatens the sustainability and viability of the Australian organics recycling industry.
John McKew, AORA Executive Officer, said extending the CDS would assist with alleviating the glass contamination problem in organics recycling.
“Glass is a significant problem within organic processing facilities, as it can break easily when not handled with care,” John said. “It should not be present or recycled in an organics stream.
“When it does find its way into an organics stream and becomes broken, removal becomes almost impossible.
“Shards of glass are hard to see and impossible to remove completely from the organics it’s mixed with and it becomes a health and safety risk for those operators dealing with it.”
He said the recycled organics industry is committed to generating high-quality compost outputs that promote the protection of the environment and human health, specifically through the diversion of organic material from landfill.
“The success of recycling supply chains relies on items being responsibly sorted at the origin and the materials placed in the correct bins,” John said.
“Glass is one example where care and consideration is needed to ensure appropriate recycling occurs.”
For more information, https://aora.org.au/
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