SOUTH-WEST residents' bottles and jars are now part of the paving on shire roads, says a council overhauling its recycling.
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Moyne Shire Council has used collections from purple glass-only bins rolled out earlier this year to crush and mix into the hot pavement that surfaces roads.
Mayor Daniel Meade said about 160 tonnes of glass had been transferred to a collection point at the Illowa quarry and then to infrastructure company Fulton Hogan's Warrnambool plant.
"Fulton Hogan then crushes the glass and uses it as a substitute for sand in local road making," Cr Meade said.
He said the company had since used the material to resurface a section of Toolong North Road, near Port Fairy.
"Moyne Shire Council has continued to lead the way with processing of glass," Cr Meade said.
But he said household waste had jumped 15 per cent as people spent more time at home due to the coronavirus, increasing contamination issues particularly in yellow bins.
"With waste increasing, it is even more important to ensure the effectiveness of our recycling system, which starts with residents correctly sorting their household waste," Cr Meade said.
"While contamination in glass bins has been around one per cent, around a third of all yellow recycling bins are contaminated with non-recyclable items.
"If bins are contaminated the entire truck load is emptied into landfill meaning a whole lot of recyclable items are not getting recycled."
He said the council would distribute a new waste guide providing guidance on what could and couldn't be recycled.
The council says the main contamination issues in yellow recycling bins are:
- Bagged recycling (loose recyclables should be placed in the yellow recycling bin - no plastic bags)
- Tetra Pak / Long-life cartons (place in the red landfill bin)
- Glass (place in the purple glass bin)
- Soft plastics - bags, cling wrap, chip packets, meat trays with soft plastic covers (place in the red landfill bin)
- Plastics with recycling symbol other than one or two - takeaway food containers (place in the red landfill bin)
Additional information is available at moyne.vic.gov.au/better4moyne
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