Australia produces more than 1.3 million tonnes of plastics every year, including 50 000 tonnes of soft drink bottles. 30 000 tonnes of milk bottles and more than 10000 tonnes of detergent and shampoo bottles.
Plastics are made from fossil fuels, a major contributor to global warming. Manufacturing plastics from recycled materials uses only 30% of the energy required to make plastic products from new materials. Recycling just one tonne of plastic saves Australia enough energy to run a fridge for a whole month.
Code
Type
Can be Recycled Into
1
PET’ or Polyethylene terephthalate
Detergent bottles, packaging film, carpet fibres and fleecy linings
Detergent bottles, tiles, plumbing fittings, hosing and industrial flooring
4
LDPE or Low Density Polyethylene
Films and bags for various industries including building, packaging, manufacturing and nurseries.
Polystyrene – technical name Expanded Polystyrene
Compost aerator, new products such as coat hangers, plant pots, video and CD cases as well as plaster and concrete enhancers and various other building products.
Worth Doing
It’s best to reduce our consumption of plastics by avoiding and reusing. Where you can’t avoid altogether, it’s worth being tough on avoiding plastics that are not easy to reuse or recycle (eg those plastics marked Codes 5-7).
There are many WA businesses which will accept a wide range of plastics for recycling. Call the free Recycle @ Work Hotline on 1800 819 000 and we can help match you with a recycler that will suit your business or you can download our current list.
If you only have a small amount of plastic to recycle you might like to consider these options:
Collect and drop off at your closest drop-off centre. Call our hotline for location details.
Keep an eye out for other businesses near you may already have a plastic collection service that they would be happy for you to participate in. (In most cases these services charge for each collection, not the amount of waste, so they won’t have to pay any more if you have added a little to a less-than-full load).
If there is no facility for collecting plastics in your area, contact your local council for more information or to make a request that a service be provided.
For more information contact the
Recycle @ Work Hotline on 1800 819 000.
