The South Australian Government has launched a new Which Bin campaign to encourage South Australians to improve their household waste management.
According to Environment Minister David Speirs, the new statewide Which Bin campaign builds on the award-winning 2019 education program, which follows Vin and his family in their quest to recycle more effectively.
“The amount of household waste being produced during the COVID-19 pandemic has spiked, with local councils seeing a more than 10 per cent rise in waste sent to landfill compared with this time last year – similar to amounts produced during the Christmas period,” Speirs said.
The new campaign aims to improve the state’s recycling levels by educating people on which bin is best for different items of household waste.
Food waste is the state’s biggest area for improvement, Speirs said, representing as much as 40 per cent of the material in South Australian household waste bins sent to landfill.
“There are simple things families can do help the situation, such as getting a kitchen caddy to put food scraps in or just educating yourself on what products can go in each bin,” he said.
“By using our three kerbside bins more effectively local councils will save money by reducing landfill costs, and for business the biggest savings are made by avoiding food waste in the first place. The cost of wasted materials, energy and labour is up to 10 times the cost of disposal.”
The state government has also released two draft waste strategies for consultation; South Australia’s Food Waste Strategy and the South Australia’s Waste Strategy for 2020-25.
“South Australia has always been a nation-leader when it comes to waste management and South Australia’s Food Waste Strategy – Valuing our Food Waste is Australia’s first comprehensive blueprint for reducing and preventing food waste being sent to landfill,” Speirs said.
South Australia’s Waste Strategy for 2020-25 seeks to achieve zero avoidable wast to landfill by 2030.
It proposes targets, objectives and actions to continue the state’s efforts to achieve positive environmental outcomes, while building the local industry and creating business opportunities locally and overseas.
“New directions are included to boost the economy and for positive environmental outcomes covering food waste, single-use plastics, regulatory reforms, education and behaviour change and market development through infrastructure investment and other measures,” Speirs said.
Additional sector targets include a 75 per cent diversion rate for municipal solid waste, 90 per cent for commercial and industrial waste and 95 per cent diversion of construction and demolition waste.
Consultation closes 14 August.
Related stories: