Recycle right

The Mackay community has embraced recycling and is helping to ensure that millions of cans, bottles, jars and newspapers are recycled each fortnight. View the 2012 Mackay Region Recycling Calendar (571 KB)

Recycling is important, not only to reduce landfill, but also to reduce the amount of natural resources such as trees, sand, oil, iron ore and bauxite being used to make new products therefore conserving the environment.

Items that cannot be recycled via the domestic recycling service are referred to as contaminants or contamination.

What is recycling contamination?

Contamination occurs when the wrong things are placed in the yellow-lidded recycling bin. It doesn't necessarily mean the item isn't recyclable, or reusable, it just means that it can't be recycled through council's recycling process. Only certain items can be recycled at the Material Recovery Facility in Paget. Anything else is contamination.

Do you know what happens if the wrong things are put in the yellow-lidded bin?  Items such as clothing, plastic bags, dirty nappies, garden waste and food scraps can affect the sorting process and may cause loads of recyclables to be rejected because they are dirty or its unsafe for the load to be sorted. Rejected recyclables end up as landfill. 

The sticker on the lid of yellow-lidded recycling bin lets residents know what can be placed in the bin therefore its important to only put these items in your bin.

Why is contamination a problem?

Did you know that just 170 grams of ceramics (as little as one plate) mixed with a tonne of glass can result in the rejection of the entire load? Rejected recyclables may be used as landfill.

Not only can contamination ruin a load of recyclables, it can also cause harm to people who handle them. Council's Material Recovery Facility relies on people to manually sort some recyclables. Contaminants such as syringes, food scraps, dirty nappies, electrical and metal items can cause harm. Rotting food waste and other household waste on the sorting line can pose a serious health risk to workers.

Contamination may also lead to machinery failure, as plastics bags, fishing line and electrical cords get caught in the equipment, causing it to shutdown for long periods.

What you can put in your yellow-lidded recycling bin:

• Paper, cardboard, newspapers, magazines and advertising material
• Plastic bottles and containers with the triangular recycling symbol and either a number one through to six inside the symbol
• Aluminium and steel cans and aerosols
• Glass bottles and jars
• Milk and juice cartons

What you can't put in your yellow-lidded recycling bin:

• Plastic bags, including recyclables tied up in plastic bags
• Ceramics, Pyrex, pottery, china, crockery, ovenware, mirrors, broken mugs, cups and plates
• Clothing
• Disposable nappies
• Garden waste
• Food scraps
• Polystyrene and foam packing material
• Large metal items, pots and pans, car parts
• Electrical items and cords
• Syringes

Recycling tips

• Place items loosely in the recycling bin
• Do not tie recyclables up in plastic bags
• Give bottles and jars a quick rinse before placing them in the recycling bin
• Ensure lids are taken off bottles and jars before placing them in the recycling bin