Lost in the garbage mix

Yellow-top recycling bins in Kwinana and Rockingham are being filled with the wrong items.

Rockingham and Kwinana council figures obtained during National Recycling Week showed that between 12 and 18 per cent of items put out for recycling in Rockingham go straight to landfill, while in Kwinana 13 per cent of recyclables are lost to landfill.

An audit by the Kwinana council showed that last year, a third of materials in green-top bins could have been recycled.

About 74 per cent of household waste went to landfill and a total of 26 per cent o f collected waste was recycled.

‘‘A big issue is the mixing of recyclables with food into the one plastic bag,’’ Kwinana Mayor Carol Adams said.

‘‘All plastic bags full of rubbish in the yellow-top bins are taken to landfill, so it is important to make sure recyclables are loose.’’

Recyclables collected in Kwinana go to Perth Engineering in Hamilton Hill, while those from Rockingham are collected by Cleanaways and taken to Mandurah.

The Millar Road landfill site deals with 35,000 tonnes of waste each year, including televisions, computers and household food waste.

Bikes, fridges, microwaves, and other steel items are collected every six months by OneSteel, which shreds them and puts them into containers for either Asia or steel plants in Victoria or NSW.

Polystyrene, paper and cardboard taken to the tip are crushed and bailed up before being taken by Amcor to a plant in Bibra Lake for recycling.

The site is trialling a similar system for plastics.

Methane gas is captured from the rotting food waste and power generated from it is put back into the national grid.

Millar Road landfill site manager Graham Rose said efforts were being made to inform the public, with the introduction of an education centre on site.

He said the site was trying to change children’s mindsets, in the hope they pass it on to parents.

Mr Rose advised people to avoid charges by separating their waste when they take it to the landfill site.