SPECIAL FEATURE – EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Is your bin healthy? THE CITY OF SWANS LATEST WASTE EDUCATION INITIATIVE, WHICH INVOLVES AUDITING THE CONTAMINATION LEVELS OF HOUSEHOLD BINS, HAS LED TO A 53 PER CENT DECREASE IN RECYCLING BIN CONTAMINATION..
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rom kerbside collection to education and training, the City of Swan in Western Australia manages all its own waste services. The city covers a large and diverse area across Perth’s eastern metropolitan region and has a population of 149,195. Colin Pumphrey, Fleet and Waste Manager, says while some areas of the city are historically efficient in recycling, others with high density populations need further assistance. Since April, the City of Swan has been conducting ‘health checks’ on
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residential kerbside bins to help the community improve recycling habits and reduce waste contamination. “We need to understand what areas of the city needed our attention in terms of recycling education, and what areas are already doing well,” Colin says. “We have worked closely with the Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA), which had already developed a successful process for bin tagging.” According to WALGA, similar programs in South Australia have
reduced waste contamination by up to 60 per cent and increased the amount of recycling by 25 per cent. Colin says bin auditing involves city staff visually checking the contents of general waste and recycling bins in randomly selected areas. The checks are then followed by constructive individual feedback on how each household can waste less and recycle more. “Feedback is first provided in the form of a tag on bin handles, which highlights if there are any contaminated items in the recycling
