Australians who moved house in the last five years have moved an estimated 5.7 million old mobiles[1] with them according to MobileMuster, Australia’s leading not-for-profit mobile phone recycler.

A new report[2] commissioned by MobileMuster on moving home habits leading up to World Environment Day (June 5), has found that Australians keep taking their old mobiles, batteries and chargers with them each time they move, rather than recycling them.

“The amount of old mobiles that Australians are moving with them each year is astounding, with six of out ten people saying they found old mobiles, chargers, batteries, TVs, computers, printers and white goods lying around home last time they moved” commented Rose Read, Recycling Manager for MobileMuster.

“By weight this includes at least 65 tonnes of plastics and 48 tonnes of copper[3] in mobile phones that could be reused, not to mention the steel, precious metals and other elements found in mobiles and chargers that are fully recyclable ” added Read.

Released today, the report into Australians attitudes to moving house also found that:

• Old mobiles, chargers and batteries were one of the top three items (35%) not being used or needed anymore that Australians moved with them
• The other top three items were old files, bills and paperwork (59%) and clothing (49%)
• Nearly a third of (29%) Aussies said their biggest concerns about moving were:
  • Cleaning and packing-up
  • Moving with items that are not needed or used anymore
  • Getting rid of unwanted items

The OSCA is being leased through the Australian company ‘Worms Downunder’  (http://www.wormsdownunder.com.au/wormfarmproducts.html) this snow season and will trial the viability of processing organic waste onsite, opposed to the long haul off the mountain for processing.

The purpose built OSCA will aerobically process 300kgs of organic waste a day, using little more energy than it takes to run a light-bulb. The food waste is loaded in one end and the safe, finished compost is ejected from the other end after a period of around two weeks.

The trial will be of particular interest for the whole North East Region as organic material (specifically food waste) presents a major issue in waste management across the Region and greater Victoria.

The OSCA trial will bring the North East one step closer to working towards solutions as to how to keep this organic waste out of landfill as well as turning this ‘waste’ into a valuable resource.

For more information on the background and success of the Living Bin program please visit: http://nevrwaste.vic.gov.au/projects/food-recycling-in-the-alps/

One of the key actions of the Policy is the appointment of a Ministerial Advisory Committee to advise the Minister for Environment and Climate Change on the optimal institutional and governance arrangements needed to implement Getting Full Value.  Included in this review is Sustainability Victoria, EPA, DSE and Regional Waste Management Groups like NevRwaste.

This Committee has been appointed and is currently conducting consultation sessions throughout the State with the aim of delivering a recommendation back to the Minister by the end of May 2013.

A consultation session for Local Government will be held on the 9th of  May at Wang Central on Ely St in Wangaratta from 1.30-3.30pm.  To register for the session email jennifer.hughes@dse.vic.gov.au

A great team of presenters, including NevRwaste’s Kim Mueller, took advantage of the natural environment offered in the area to present on a variety of topics including Waste Wise, Recycling, Say NO to plastic bags, Cambomba, Web of Life, Energy, Water Bugs, Filtering Water, Natural Disasters and Bones, Skulls and Skeletons.

Thanks go to the many organisations who team together to make this day a success including NevRwaste, North East Water, North East Catchment Management Authority, Benalla Rural City, Cleanaway, Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, Benalla Sustainable Futures Group, the Department of Sustainability and Environment, SES and the Rural City of Wangaratta.  Many thanks also go to the Shire of Mansfield who funded a bus from Mansfield and especially to Larissa Montgomery from Benalla Rural City for her fantastic organisational support on so many levels, including the venue. The next Student Environment Day is to be held at Porepunkah in the Alpine Shire on May 9^th.  Planning is well underway for this event.

Tony Chetcuti from RCOW and Richard Paschke from NevRwaste check ou the new 360 litre bin

Bigger recycling bins were rolled out to 900 households in Benalla and Wangaratta on the weekend before Easter. The new MGB360 (the technical name for the big wheelie bin) were distributed to households as part of a NevRwaste trial, funded by Sustainability Victoria and the National Packaging Covenant Industry Association . Every household receiving a new bin was informed about the arrival prior to the delivery.

The new bins offer 50% or 120 litres more space for recyclables and it is expected that some of the recycling which previously may have leaked into the garbage bin may be captured with the bigger bin. Despite its bigger capacity the bin is still quite easy to handle even when full.

Now in the trial phase NevRwaste is eagerly watching whether the average bin weight of the recycling bin will increase and the weight of the garbage bin decrease. Additional to the weighing of waste and recycling NevRwaste is conducting a survey where trial participants can provide feedback and if lucky win an iPad Mini.

The surveys will be online and hosted on the RCoW and BRCC websites as well as the NevRwaste website.

CLICK HERE to go to surveys.

Resource Recovery Centre Team at Mansfield

Residents in Mansfield will now be able to drop off electronic materials including computers and televisions for recycling free of charge.  Mansfield Shire, DHL, NevRwaste and Mansfield Bins and Skips have joined forces to bring the new service to the Mansfield Transfer Station.

Rebecca Kirley, Waste Management Officer at the Mansfield Shire said “We are excited to be able to offer this service to residents. Households can now drop off televisions and computers for free at the Mansfield Resource Recovery Centre in Monkey Gully Road.

“Materials are dismantled in the Melbourne workshop into various components for recycling, even the plastic on the outside of the TV can be recycled into something new,” said Mrs Kirley.Materials are then collected by a recycling company and transported to Melbourne to begin the recycling process.

The service is the result of the Federal product stewardship legislation relating to electronic waste designed to increase the recovery of these materials.

Further information on the program can be found by visiting www.dropzone.org.au

EC Sustainable, a company based in Sydney that specialises in waste audits sent their audit team lead by Dom Scalone to the region where they sorted waste and recyclables weighed each fraction and recorded the data. The project manager James Elliman who did a great job planning the collections and liaising with the local government officers is currently putting the report together.

The results will be presented in the May NevRwaste Board meeting and all Council Technical Officers are invited to join the NevRwaste Board at 12:30 on Thursday 19^th May.

Darrell Butler and Leonie Carson form Eurangie Park Murray Greys), Docker

The disposal of farm plastics has long presented an issue for farmers. Now there is a solution with ‘Plasback’, a low cost collection system that makes disposal easy. NevRwaste and Tapex have joined forces and will be delivering free plasback bag liners to farmers in the North East to collect their silage wrap and baling twine for recycling. Over 100 boxes of bag liners have already been hand delivered.

The Plasback system provides an alternative disposal system, with great environmental benefits; reducing litter and waste to landfill and recovering valuable resources in materials.  Silage wrap and baling twine is shaken clean, rolled up and placed in the appropriate bag liner on farm, then on your next trip to the transfer station bags can be dropped off free of charge.

“Farmer acceptance of the program has been positive and these efforts are keeping over 400 tonnes of farm plastics out of landfill each year” said Darrell Butler from Tapex.

“40 tonnes of material was just picked up for recycling from the North East and bags will continue to be collected on a regular basis.” said Mr Butler.

All plastics collected are recycled. Upon collection the Plasback liners are processed back into granules which can then be used as raw material to make other plastic products.. Tuffboard a plywood or sheet metal alternative, is just one of these products. It is made from 100% recycled silage film or baling twine polymer and has unique properties.

Councils participating in North East Victoria include Rural City of Wangaratta, Towong Shire, Alpine Shire and Indigo Shire.

Anyone wishing to participate in Plasback & get your free liners please contact Darrell Butler 0407 559 709.

For further information visit the website www.plasback.com.au and see how the system works and can benefit you.

The draw for the i-pad mini will be held on Friday 14th June 2013. The winner will be notified directly by Nevrwaste.