Big Scrub Environment Centre

Re-use - Repair - Recycle

Australians are one of the worlds largest producers of waste per head of population, sending a total of more than 18 million tonnes to land-fill every year. This waste represents a loss of natural resources which increasingly can be used or recycled to benefit both consumers and producers, and the environment.

Our challenge is to maintain a high standard of living while reducing these impacts on the environment. This challenge is acknowledged world-wide and is described as the move towards ‘sustainability’, which is simply living within the planet’s means.

We can reduce our impact by examining our day-to-day consumption behaviours and modify them to use less. we can also help reduce pollution and waste and improve the quality of Australia’s land, water and air by minimising our energy consumption through using energy efficient products.

As consumer demand grows for products which are more environmentally sound, manufacturers will be encouraged to greatly improve their environmental performance and hence to reduce their impact upon the environment even more.

We need to:
* understand the environmental impact of what we buy
* consider other options before purchasing
* make the best choice for the environment and ourselves

The recycling centres conveniently located around Lismore at:
Brewster Street (opp. Lismore Square Shopping Centre).
Cnr Dawson & Woodlark Streets
Wyrallah Road Waste Facility
Holland Street, Goonellabah

What to recycle at the Drop Off Centres:

Glass bottles and jars
Plastic containers

, (numbers are on the bottom)

Paper/cardboard, place in cages (can also be placed in your organics bin)

Steel and aluminium cans & empty pressure packs and steel lids.

What NOT to recycle at Drop Off Centres:

Mirror and window glass

Ceramics and ovenware

Syringes
Plastic bags, plastic

and no numbers

Milk cartons/waxed cardboards

Household or commercial garbage

Wire, steel sheet, piping & whitegoods (can by recycled at Wyrallah Road Waste Facility)

Your recycling goes to Ballina Shire Council's Material Recovery facility where it's sorted.
It is then sent to Brisbane or Sydney for reprocessing into valuable items such as the new organics bins which were made with up to 50% recycled plastics.

Computer and Other Appliance Waste

Each year Australians dump 2.5 million major electrical appliances and 1 million computers loaded with toxic materials. Worn-out circuit boards from discarded computers, mobile phones, VCR’s, television sets and hi-fis are piling up on tips around the nation, where they sit like environmental time bombs.

It’s not the usual suspects – solder, lead and it’s compounds – but the hidden nasties inside hi-tech goods that do the damage. These include cadmium, hexavalent chromium, phosphor chemicals, chlorofluorocarbons, oil, grease, mercury and flame retardants – all of which have a devastating effect in the environment.

Environmental Protection Authority waste management chief, Bruce Dawson says this discarded equipment contains a mixture that can leach into water systems, catchment areas and river systems. "The trashed appliances and their packaging are a huge waste of valuable resources and a major environmental problem."

Cadmium is highly toxic to humans, fish, animals and plants. Even low-level exposure over time can damage the lungs, liver and kidneys. About 80 million cadmium batteries already have been buried in Australian land-fills and the number of discarded batteries increases each year. We must consider the environmental impact a product has over it’s entire life cycle. This starts at the design stage, when manufacturers need to factor in environmental issues before they build prototypes of their next TV, PC or DVD player.
Pioneer Australia managing director Ken Barelli says it’s time to become smarter consumers. "The throw-away trend is just warming-up in Australia. The disposable mindset is rife. Consumers might pay $300 for a hi-fi, expecting it to last 20 years. When it doesn’t, they trash it and start again … it’s a crazy cycle."

Pioneer’s response has been to set up a programme of reform, the crux of which is the admission that though the 20th century gave the world prosperity and an easy life, mass production also means mass consumption, mass waste and destruction of the environment. The company says we now need to give the highest priority to the global environment and aim for sustainable development and a recycling system.

Pioneer is now working to replace styrene foam packaging with reclaimed cardboard pulp packaging. It also has eliminated CFC’s and HCFC’s from production, lead from solder and cut energy consumption in its factories. These changes have not added a cent to the shelf prices of products, nor do they effect the products’ reliability or longevity.

Bruce Dawson welcomes such "greening" by manufacturers, but says it is a modest start. "The consumer and the industry need to adopt more sustainable practices. Resources are finite and have only a limited capacity to deal with this waste burden.

Source: Herald Sun Newspaper