Recycling program giving new life to plastic lids

Lids4Kids giving plastic lids new life

The Lids4Kids program has won the Waste Reduction Award in the Geelong Community Green Achiever Awards.

The Community Green Achiever Awards recognise and celebrate community-led action that promotes sustainability, supports biodiversity and protects the environment.

Lids4Kids is a not-for-profit organisation founded in Canberra by Tim Miller, which sees plastic lids turned into useful products.

The innovative project sees the lifespan of plastic lids, used for milk, water and soft drink containers, extended from days – or even mere minutes – to a much longer term, minimising the impact single use plastic is having on the environment.

Rescued lids are sorted and diverted to a number of different recycling channels depending on the type of plastic and colour.

Bright coloured plastic lids made from plastic type four are remade into new products, including combs, coasters, clipboards and phone holders, by Ballarat-based Zero Plastics Australia. It takes around 220 lids to make an A4 clipboard, 12 to 15 lids to make a coaster and around 19 to make a comb.

Jennifer Jarrard – Regional Co-ordinator of Lids4Kids Western Victoria said the initiative aims to increase awareness around plastics recycling.

“Australians buy 3.5 million tonnes of plastic each year, but only about 11.5 per cent is recycled. We need to work together with the community and recycling industry to bridge the gap in rescuing small items that can easily be recycled,” Jarrard said.

For information on lid drop-off locations, click here. For more information on Lids4Kids, click here.

 

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