Answers to the Big Recycling Questions

Answers to the Big Recycling Questions

By Ryan Collins  November 9th, 2015

Planet Ark's National Recycling Week is the annual opportunity for the industry, government, community groups and individuals to focus on the big recycling questions so we can make it as environmentally and economically beneficial as possible. Planet Ark's new research covers these and other questions.

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Even though Australians have embraced recycling there are still common questions that come up regularly. What are the biggest mistakes? How do we make recycling at work, work? What is the future of recycling? 

Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week, now in its 20th year, is the right time to get the answers to these and the other big questions from our new research.

The Biggest Mistakes

We asked 115 councils around Australia what the biggest recycling mistake was.  Nine out of ten agreed that putting recycling in plastic bags was the biggest mistake. Coming in second was residents putting recyclables in the general waste. The third most common mistake was placing items in the kerbside recycling bin with too much food waste attached.

Make Recycling at Work, Work

This year we highlight the benefits to businesses of recycling including:

  • Staff feel that they work for a responsible employer if they recycle
  • Happy employees correlates with positive firm performance
  • Businesses embracing ‘green’ mandates have an increased ability to recruit and retain good employees
  • Selecting the right bin, balers and other equipment can help ensure contamination is minimized and the recycling industry can extract the full environmental and financial benefits from the material

The Future of Recycling

There are a number of drivers that will affect the future of recycling. These include:

  • Waste increasing with a growing population
  • More people wanting to recycle
  • More manufacturers taking responsibility
  • Increasing public and private investment in recycling
  • Increasing awareness about the dangers of waste
  • Decreasing resource availability
  • Financial incentives like Container Deposit Schemes

The Full Report

Get more answers by downloading the full All Sorted – Answering the Big Recycling Questions report.

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By Ryan Collins

Ryan is the Head of Circular Economy Programs at Planet Ark. After nearly a decade working in the banking and finance industry Ryan was drawn to a career in environmental conservation that saw him work in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji. With a background in psychology and environmental management, Ryan’s role at Planet Ark since 2012 has been focused on developing engaging and positive environmental behaviour change programs to help organisations and households find solutions to reduce waste.

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