August 3, 2022 • 47 mins
Did you know that Kingston produces 28,000 tonnes of rubbish each year?
That’s equivalent to 11 Olympic swimming pools!
But what happens to it all once our bins are collected?
We’re talking all things trash on the City of Kingston’s new waste podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to trash talk,
the world's trashiest podcast where we sort through your waste and recycling.
Hello,
everybody and welcome to the first Trash Talk podcast.
(00:26):
I am Freya Vicky Council or Kingston Council's Waste Education Officer.
And here with me is the lovely jewels.
And today we're gonna be talking all things trash.
Hello,
everyone.
It's good to be to you.
So,
what we're doing with this podcast series is we're hoping to give uh a breakdown of what happens to your waste.
(00:46):
Where does it go?
What does it get turned into breakdown?
Some of those misconceptions that people have about it.
We're gonna cover topics like plastic and paper,
fogo or food,
waste,
all kinds of things and really break that down and help you understand,
where is it all going and what's it becoming?
I'm gonna bust some myths as well and some common theories that people have that may or may not be correct.
(01:10):
Yeah.
So Kingston Council,
where are we at?
What's happening with our waste frayer?
Yeah,
cool.
So Kingston,
we're doing quite a lot of really good things,
which is great,
but there's definitely some room for improvement where everybody can try and improve on a few different things.
So currently Kingston is sending 28 8000 tons of garbage items to landfill.
(01:33):
Um That's also about 11 Olympic swimming pools.
So it's quite a lot we're sending to landfill when I think maybe when we'll talk a bit more about it that,
you know,
we could get some of those things out of there and start recycling and composting them,
which leads us to um our recycling facility where we're sending about 16,000 tons of recyclable items.
So that's great.
(01:53):
Lots of paper and cardboard and plastic and things like that,
that we can turn into new things.
And lastly our composting.
So we're sending 20,000 tons of food and garden waste to our composting facility uh each year,
which is really,
really good to see.
But I,
I definitely think we could get some of those items out of that landfill and recycle and compost and,
(02:14):
and boost those numbers up a little bit more as well.
So,
yeah.
Wow,
that's,
that's a lot of waste.
Like having that swimming pool visualization really helps to quantify that amount of waste.
It's quite,
it's quite shocking really.
And that's just one council let alone all of Victoria or Australia and quite,
and by size wise as well.
(02:35):
Kingston is definitely not the largest council in Melbourne,
definitely not the smallest.
But um yeah,
it's quite a lot of waste that we're producing and I think together we can all,
you know,
make a few more decisions around home and,
you know,
when we're putting things into what bins and try and get that items out of landfill.
Well,
how about we jump into it and into the red bin and talk about landfill,
(02:56):
jumping into the bin.
Are we right into it?
So the garbage trucks,
they can actually flip quite a few bins,
can't they?
5 to 800?
From my understanding,
it's quite a lot depending on the garbage truck size and how many items are going into the bin.
But that's a fair,
fair amount of uh bins that we can squish into 11 truck,
(03:17):
which is good to see.
And again,
that's helping to reduce our truck movements and multiple runs back and forth to landfill.
But um ideally the best thing to do is if we can reduce our waste in general,
then we can fit more bins into that truck.
Um And less runs out to the landfill.
So yeah,
so we're just gonna bust the mist here with our,
with our landfill bin and that everything that goes into that red rubbish bin or that rubbish bin that we have at home goes into a landfill cell or basically a section of the landfill.
(03:46):
Um It's not sorted beforehand.
It's basically tipped out by the truck and tipped straight into the hole in the ground.
Um So just a as a fun little fact,
the landfill that uh Kingston take all their materials to is based in Dandenong South.
So it's not too far away.
But um yeah,
nothing gets sorted or separated,
just goes straight into that hole.
(04:07):
Um Our landfill there is very strictly regulated and managed um through the EPA and,
and lots of um internal uh rules and regulations that they,
they're strictly monitoring which is really good um to see.
But yeah,
so um and landfills.
So landfills.
Have you seen landfill before?
(04:28):
Jules,
what do you reckon?
Some issues are around landfills for those who haven't been there?
I have,
I've been to a few um one of the issues I've heard about a lot is methane,
like lots of organic waste in there breaking down and just producing a lot of gas.
So what do we do with that?
Yeah.
Well,
(04:48):
as a good thing you mentioned that.
So the average uh Kingston landfill bin or rubbish bin is actually made up of 37% of food,
37% of what is in the average Kingston red bin should actually be getting composted.
Um But actually it it is ending up in landfill and that breakdown of food waste produces that methane gas.
(05:11):
So methane,
for those who aren't too sure about methane gas,
it's about 30 times worse than carbon dioxide and it causes many issues for our environment.
Um So I guess the best thing to do is maybe let's try and get that food waste out of our rubbish bin um to help stop that methane producing at landfill and,
and to get that food waste being composted as well.
(05:32):
Um The other issue as well,
jules is the leachate.
So Lee Ade is like a liquid pollutant.
So it's basically like I like to call it the bin juice of landfill where you have lots of liquid that gathers in large quantities.
Um and generally makes its way down to the bottom of landfill.
So some examples as well,
it could even be some rainwater that's come through or other liquids or things that have come through um your bins at home um and makes its way down to the bottom of landfill.
(06:01):
And it's just really important at landfill that we try and stop that leachate from escaping into the groundwater as well.
So um they say the,
they say that at our local um landfill,
they can capture the methane and the leach chain as well to try and stop that entering into our environment.
(06:22):
Um And that um methane is converted into a,
an energy that they say can a power approximately 6000 homes that it's quite good um in that we're harnessing sort of the bad things that are coming from landfill.
But um ideally,
it's best if we weren't producing the methane in the first place and making sure we're not putting any liquids and things like that into our landfill bin as well.
(06:46):
So,
one of the things I do know about landfills is that once they're full,
we do reuse the land.
It's not like barren or,
you know,
just completely cleared.
We do get to reuse those.
And there's quite a few places within Kingston and other places in Melbourne where they've been turned into Parkland or reserves that they cap it off with a really thick layer of clay,
(07:08):
um and basically seal in all the waste and it sort of starts to undulate and it has to settle for a period of time from my understanding and eventually,
yeah,
we do um you know,
build that back up and put some trees around and nice parks and things like that.
So it's not fantastic that we're burying our waste,
(07:28):
but we try to make the best of a bad situation,
I suppose.
Yeah,
definitely.
And,
and,
and Kingston is actually quite fortunate in a way that we have lots of parks and gardens and sporting um fields that were actually once old landfills that are now settling and as you said,
been topped with the clay and the soil material and now we're using them for outdoor recreation areas as well.
(07:50):
So that that's really good to see and,
and for those who aren't aware of it,
there's a lot of these areas in the Green Wedge area within Kingston as well.
Um So yeah,
there's a lot of old landfills that are,
yeah,
just settling and being used for great outdoor public places,
which is great to see.
So,
yeah.
Now jules on your knowledge of landfill,
I think maybe it's time that we have a bit of a chat about.
(08:12):
What are the common things that go into our rubbish bin?
So we've talked about food waste.
Let's keep our food waste out of that landfill bin.
What other things should we maybe keep out of that landfill bin?
So,
definitely hazardous waste,
things like batteries,
um,
any engine oils and other bits and pieces that uh have a lot of chemicals and heavy metals in them.
(08:35):
Um A lot of that ends up in the shade and leachate is one of the main management problems that landfill has all the juices from things breaking down batteries uh leaking over time as they start to age all of that,
you know,
is quite a toxic mix and creates a real problem.
We really have to be careful managing the landfills,
(08:56):
particularly when they're close to waterways and making sure that the liners of those landfills don't uh have any gaps or breaches in them and,
and jules.
What about um a hot load?
Maybe it's probably best to explain what a hot load is and one of the reasons why we don't have another reason why we aren't allowed batteries in the bins in any trucks because it creates fire.
(09:18):
Fire is bad.
Yeah,
fire is not good.
Yeah,
batteries are one of the number one causes for fires in trucks and also like the recycling facility or,
you know,
potentially maybe at landfill or who whatever facility it's going to.
So a big rule is to please keep out any of your batteries or E waste.
And so E waste is defined as anything with a plug,
(09:39):
a cord or a battery.
Um And please keep them out of any of your bins at home.
We do have a few council drop off locations for our E waste so you can drop off any E waste that is small that would fit into say a 2 40 liter bin similar to what you have at home.
Um And you can drop that off at the West All Library,
(10:00):
the uh council office in Cheltham,
uh the Chelsea Library and the Patterson Lakes Library as well.
But we have a full list on council's website.
So if you jump online to um rubbish and recite at Kingston,
there's a whole page.
They're dedicated to E waste and chemical collections and things like that.
Um So it tells you where to take all those items.
(10:22):
Um So that way we can avoid having a,
a hot load or any,
you know,
disastrous major issues happening in a truck.
So that's the last thing we want.
Yeah,
ideally,
people would be taking it to those drop offs because landfill is the last resort.
It's the things we really can't deal with the E waste and batteries.
There's loads of places you can recycle those and they can be made into new batteries,
(10:42):
they can strip the e waste for metal and precious metals as well,
which we'll cover in a future podcast for sure.
But yeah.
And of landfill in your red bin,
it's the last resort.
That's the last thing that's,
you know,
think about that,
avoid,
reduce reuse,
recycle.
And that last option is dispose and that is what we call our red bin.
(11:03):
Um,
the other thing as well,
some other items.
So while we are talking about disposing,
so we're thinking about what items go into the red bin that can't be um recycled or avoided.
And you know,
nappies is a quite common one.
The disposable nappies,
unfortunately.
Yes,
they can go into your uh red rubbish bin as well as like animal waste and pet feces and things like that.
(11:26):
Um What about uh any ceramics and broken glass and things like that?
Jewels?
Yeah,
those things can't go in your recycling bin.
So that's landfill unfortunately.
And the same with any like vacuum cleaner dust and things like that.
So again,
any of these items that we can't recycle and we can't take elsewhere for recycling and recover things essentially.
(11:49):
Um because we definitely don't want to have any nappies or things like that going in the recycling bin.
I'm not sure what we could turn them into,
so not much.
No,
definitely cool.
Alrighty.
So I think that covers a lot of our landfill chat.
Was there any anything else that we needed to have a chat about?
(12:09):
I think,
I think we're ready to move on to our recycling.
We're following our waste and we've talked about the red litter bin,
which is that last option,
which is dispose.
And now we want to talk all about our recycling.
So we want to bust the myth about what can go into the recycling bin.
What happens at the recycling facility as well?
Um,
and yeah,
so let's,
(12:29):
let's jump into it as,
as I said earlier on,
we're sending 16,000 tons of materials to the recycling facility.
Unfortunately,
of that.
Um,
15% is what we call contamination and they're things that probably shouldn't go into that recycling bin.
But,
um,
we might have a bit more of a chat,
a bit of,
a bit more later on.
But,
(12:49):
uh,
jules,
did you want to run through some of the common items that can go into the recycling bin?
Yeah.
Sure.
So,
paper and cardboard,
that one's pretty straightforward.
Any of your aluminum cans as well as aluminum foil if you scrunch that.
Really?
Yeah.
So about a 10,
this ball orange sort of size ball.
Gather all those pieces up,
(13:10):
scrunch it into a nice tight ball and that will get.
So,
so come Easter time,
gather up all those Easter egg foil,
eggs and put them into a ball.
Look,
I won't lie.
That's a tedious task.
But yes,
absolutely.
It can be recycled.
And what about those trays as well?
Those foil trays.
Yeah,
for your barbecue and stuff.
(13:30):
That's really good.
The cool thing about aluminum is it can be infinitely recycled.
It's really,
really good.
We want to capture that.
If it's put in landfill,
it's just lost forever.
I've heard that the energy saved from recycling aluminum,
the energy saved from having to go and dig up more bauxite,
which is the rock that is turned into aluminum.
(13:50):
You can turn your TV on for three hours.
Wow,
that's such a long time.
So,
you know.
Yeah,
it's really important.
We cover all of that aluminum and we don't send it to landfill and we can recycle it that infinite number of times.
Yeah,
that's super cool.
Yeah.
What else can go in?
So any steel cans and steel can aerosols?
Um,
they're all good to go in.
(14:12):
That's just another metal and turns into sheet metal and other things like that.
Now,
glass bottles and jars.
We said before that Pyrex can't go in that bin.
Now with glass,
it's a little bit tricky.
But basically if you have any food or liquids in it,
if you bought it at a supermarket or a store and had food or liquid,
(14:34):
it can go in the recycling bin.
If it's any other type of glass,
like your drinking glasses or Pyrex or window glass,
those have been heat treated and they can't be processed the same.
So basically just keep it simple if it was a food container,
put it in,
if it's glass,
if you bought it with food or drink in it.
(14:56):
Yeah,
it can be recycled.
If you haven't bought it with food or drink in it,
like a wine glass or drinking glass,
it must go in the rubbish bin.
Yeah,
that's it.
Yeah.
And then plastics.
So,
plastics is probably one of the more confusing parts but hard plastics is what we want.
Things like ice cream containers,
biscuit trays.
Um,
(15:16):
any plastic tubs from like peanut butter or other food products.
So,
like any sort of food packaging that are plastic items.
So anything you like from the kitchen and,
and maybe chuck in a few like detergent bottles and shampoo conditioner bottles and things like that.
So,
yeah.
Yeah.
So any of anything that's hard and rigid,
if it's soft,
(15:36):
we don't want it.
There's a separate process for that.
You can do that elsewhere but not in your yellow bin.
So what's a good way to,
um,
to work that out?
So you said something about the soft?
Yeah,
there's a good,
simple test.
It's called a Scrunch test.
So if you can grab like the tim tam outside wrapper of a packet and you can scrunch it into a bowl that's considered a soft plastic.
(15:59):
If it's hard and rigid,
you can't really squeeze an ice-cream container unless you're the whole and spinach.
Yeah,
that's it.
So it's,
yeah,
if you can scrunch that plastic into,
into your fist.
It's considered soft plastic and you can take that to Coles or Woolies.
Um There's red cycle or soft plastic recycling programs in a few places around um Kingston and of course,
(16:23):
Victoria in general um collect those up and put them in those bins.
That's the best place to do it.
So this is a a again,
we're busting another myth here.
When it comes to plastics,
please do not look for the triangle or the number.
They are an industry specific code um that relate to the industry.
It doesn't tell us if that item can then be recycled.
(16:45):
So the best thing to do is to do this crunch test that jules is talking about.
So if you're unsure if it's a food sort of packaging,
um plastic item scrunch it into the ball of your hand if it's a soft plastic,
it,
so it's an unmold shape like you said,
like a frozen beet,
a frozen pea bag or maybe a,
a bread bag,
things like that that can scrunch up.
(17:06):
Um That is a soft plastics and must go into your rubbish bin or you can take it back to the supermarket for recycling.
Um However,
any hard rigid food packaging sort of items uh can go into your recycling bin.
So that's a good one.
Another one just as a,
a fun factor,
a little tip to keep an eye out for is Planet Arc.
Have released some new um logos that we're gonna start seeing on more and more packaging and that will help show everyone what item can and can't be recycled.
(17:35):
So it will have a little picture and it might say,
say for example,
the biscuit tray,
it will say tray with a little picture of the recycling bin and says that can be recycled.
And then the say that that using the Tim Tam packaging,
the outside plastic packaging,
the soft plastic packaging,
um that is,
it will say that is a soft plastic.
Please return to your supermarket for recycling.
(17:58):
Yeah,
I've seen them on a few products but I think it's just a few brands that have signed up to.
I'm pretty sure it's called the Australasian Recycling Label.
So I think you'll find it on the back of the packaging,
unfortunately,
sort of near the ingredients and nutrition information,
but they should be larger than the other bits of information still in black and white.
(18:18):
But yeah,
it's really helpful showing the tray goes here,
the wrapper goes here and if there's any other bits to that product,
it will tell you what to do with it.
Yeah,
yeah,
I did say actually on a Ferrero share box coming uh buying some uh friends,
some chock and they did have like a whole different,
you know,
because you've got the foil,
you've got the little tray thing that they sit in and then the plastic tray,
(18:40):
the paper paddy and then you've got the cardboard lining and so that's very detailed.
But yeah,
it's good to see more and more companies and brands.
Um yeah,
picking it up and,
and using it.
So that's really good and really helpful for everybody as well.
So basically look for that label.
Don't look at the recycling symbol and and again,
jumping back to that recycling symbol,
(19:01):
jules,
one of the confusion,
major confusion points that a lot of residents face is they do look for that triangle and,
and the reason one of the reasons why we say don't look at that triangle is for example,
um a margarine pub is a plastic number five which can be recycled,
but then polystyrene.
So if you have any packaging that's polystyrene around a fridge or a TV,
(19:22):
that's also a plastic number five.
And that's where it gets confusing because if you start looking at numbers and they say plastic fives are recyclable,
you'll be putting that polystyrene in and,
and polystyrene has a huge impact um and causes many different issues at the recycling factory and I'm sure you've probably seen it.
But uh polystyrene for those who aren't aware when it gets to recycling facility,
(19:44):
it sort of breaks down looks a bit like snow and goes everywhere.
It makes a huge mess.
So really,
really important that we keep that polystyrene out and just go back to that soft and hard Scrunch test or look for those labels as well of the new logos and to know what can and can't go into what bin.
So,
so once I have put all my stuff in the recycling bin correctly and you make sure what about the,
(20:10):
the old rule jewels about plastic bags?
They're putting things in the recycling bin while we're here?
Is,
is it ok to put it in plastic bags or do we keep them in loose?
Uh,
and what about those newspapers that I can't be bothered reading?
And I just,
them straight into the recycling bin.
Yeah,
absolutely.
Newspaper is totally fine plastic bags.
(20:31):
No.
Going back to the scrunch test.
I can scrunch a plastic bag into my fist.
So that is soft plastic.
So that has to go to your Red cycle or your supermarket wherever else.
Uh,
you can drop it off at,
but we need to keep those items loose.
So we're about to dive in,
into what happens with these items.
But it's so important.
(20:51):
You don't stuff your bottles into,
like an Uber eats bag or whatever other packaging you find around,
into boxes.
Yeah.
Don't do that.
Just keep it 100% loose if you bought it loose,
bin it loose.
Yeah.
Just keep it loose.
It's really important and it helps the recycling process so much and,
and that goes well for bundling things as well.
(21:12):
So don't bundle any newspapers or if you've got newspaper with the plastic wrapping that you haven't read for whatever reason,
please separate those items and please keep those recycling loose.
Um Not in plastic bags.
A really common thing that we do see in Kingston is residents put their recycling in a plastic bag in their home and then take it out and then put that plastic bag with all that lovely recycling into the bin.
(21:36):
And unfortunately,
that won't get recycled.
So really important to um as a tip to avoid using a plastic bag to put your recyclables in,
in the home.
Maybe I use a,
I use an old,
um,
reusable bag or I know people use boxes,
crates old washing baskets,
whatever you've found,
try and reuse something.
Um,
and that way it will help stop that potential of that plastic bag with recycling in it ending up in the recycling bin.
(22:01):
Sounds like a good idea to me.
Yeah.
So what happens at the recycling facility?
Well,
jules,
the recycling facility is also known as the materials recovery facility and lots of exciting things happen here.
So,
so what's one of the first things that happens when the truck gets to the recycling facility?
Well,
he'll just dump out the rubbish recycling.
(22:25):
No.
So it's pretty cool and I don't know if there's opportunities for residents to do a tour at the,
the,
the material recovery facility.
I'm gonna call it Murph.
Murph is the industry term.
Um,
but it's so eye opening to go to those and see the amount of uh recycling that we produce.
(22:47):
It's pretty amazing,
but it basically gets tipped into a big open shed and where it starts its journey is a front loader will come along and scoop up a bit and drop a ton of it onto a conveyor belt.
And as that conveyor belt moves the material along there will be the first line of defense,
a few pickers.
So there's actual people in this Murph facility that are handling your waste with gloves,
(23:15):
but they're picking off things that are really obvious that shouldn't be in there.
Like your plastic bags that you've filled up full of nice bottles that can be recycled that just gets picked off and tossed straight to landfill because it's a bit of a safety hazard to open it up.
They can't always see what's in there.
Unfortunately,
that's what happens to it.
I've heard a few rumors and I've seen a few things at the Murph being pulled off like I remember one time and for those um who aren't aware we,
(23:40):
yes,
we do run tours to the recycling facility.
We have obviously haven't run any in the last couple of years due to COVID.
Um But if you are interested in coming along to any of our recycling workshops or tours,
um we do advertise a lot of our tours and things through the sustainability e newsletter that's run by Kingston Sustainability Team.
So please sign up to that to be updated and notified about the,
(24:03):
about the next tours.
But on one of the tours I have been to,
I saw one of the hand slaughters pulling out the biggest teddy bear I have ever seen in my life.
I reckon the teddy bear would have been about 2 m.
I don't know how it got into the bin in the first place.
It was from Costco.
Yeah,
probably one of those Costco ones.
Yeah.
So,
I'm not sure.
(24:23):
Um,
the reasoning why it went into the recycling bin for everyone listening at home are teddy bears cannot be recycled.
Um,
and unfortunately,
uh,
it got pulled out and sent to landfill but some other things that I've seen pulling out,
um,
by the hand sorters,
there is unfortunately gas bottles from like a barbecue.
(24:43):
So that's really hazardous.
So,
really important to keep them out.
Um,
I've also seen suitcases and camp chairs.
So again,
try and make sure we keep all those items out of,
uh,
the recycling bin.
But one of the other biggest things that I do see the hand sort of in this first stage pulling out is any of that plastic strapping tape.
(25:04):
So,
you know,
if you're buying like a fridge or something and they might have that plastic tie or that it's sort of like a hard plastic,
but it's still that packaging tape,
yellow or white in color.
Um,
they cause so many issues at the Murph with all the machinery because they very easily can get stuck around all the different types of machinery and the,
the spinny bits and sorry,
(25:25):
don't know the full technical terms for the individual parts of the conveyor belt.
But um cause massive issues.
So really important that we keep all of that strapping tape um out of the recycling bin because that's what the hand sorters pull out as well.
So,
yeah,
so after our material passes through the uh the hand sorters,
um,
(25:45):
it then goes into two Troels which use this gravity to help separate out all the different items.
Um,
so they're,
they're essentially trying to sort the items in the first stage into these three sizes.
So you've got items that are smaller than 18 centimeters,
items that are sort of 18 to 28 centimeters and then you've got bigger items and that's generally your cardboard and things like that,
(26:09):
um,
that we have coming through.
So,
just on that.
What the heck is a tromble?
Oh,
sorry,
jumping ahead of myself.
What is a tromble did you wanna?
Ok.
So basically it's a giant tube,
imagine like,
um,
a kid slide at the pet playground,
like the enclosed ones or a mcdonald's,
(26:31):
um,
playground or whatever,
a giant plastic tube or maybe metal that has a bunch of circular holes cut out of it.
And as Freya said,
those different sized items fall out at different points.
So as all the materials passing through in these holes,
different sizes that travels through the two different troubles.
(26:52):
Uh they drop out into different bins and will move on conveyor belts elsewhere.
So giant tube,
big holes on it and it's angled so that gravity um moves it in one direction.
Basically for those actually on a,
on a side note,
going off topic a little bit here.
Jules.
But uh for those who have grown up in Kingston and it was a nineties kid,
(27:13):
uh there used to be a fun place called Rainbow World in Parkdale.
And they had a giant um spinny wheel that used to like it was almost like the inside of a big pit with,
yeah,
like a hamster wheel.
And all the kids used to slide in it and try and see if we could do the full 3 60.
But in those days didn't know so much about gravity and always fell down.
But um yeah,
(27:33):
it's essentially like one of those,
but with holes in it.
So all your recycling goes into a hamster wheel with holes to sort out the different sizes and then from the different sizes,
it then gets sorted.
So,
um so for the smaller category,
so for that up to 18 centimeters category,
it's generally glass that we find.
(27:53):
So glass bottles,
glass jars,
even um glass sort of shards and things that may have been broken in the truck as well.
Um And they sort of end up going on this sort of vibration um screen or conveyor belt to help separate that contamination out.
Um And then the glass goes through this pretty cool little uh,
zig zag,
what we call a separation system which helps remove any paper.
(28:16):
So it sort of sends this blast of air through and any of the lighter paper sort of flies out the top and the glass falls through.
Um And then once,
once that glass is separated,
it's then uh taken to another facility where it can be crushed into fine sand.
Um,
I know they use a lot of this glass in asphalt and,
and road base and construction work and things like that.
(28:38):
So that's really good as well as also melting down glass and recycling it into other bottles and jars and things like that as well.
So,
very cool.
So,
with the paper being blasted off,
that goes to another section of the Murph and essentially gets bundled into these giant hay bales of paper and cardboard and they get shipped off to be pulped.
(29:02):
Yes.
Yeah,
they get popped and turned into more paper products.
So that could be writing paper,
newspaper,
toilet paper,
um,
even paper based kitty litter as well.
So all that paper can go off there.
So,
one of the things I've heard about paper is that it can only be recycled about seven or eight times.
Is that right?
Yeah.
(29:23):
Unfortunately,
it does lose its quality over the time.
Whereas,
as we were talking about before,
with aluminum aluminum can be recycled an infinite number of times.
Whereas paper will eventually lose its quality over time.
And again,
let's face it once the paper has become toilet paper,
do we really want to recycle it?
Yeah,
I think that's the end of the line.
Yeah.
Leave it at that one and let it be.
(29:44):
So,
yeah.
So it is important to still recycle your paper.
Just be aware that it can only be recycled a certain number of times.
So just touching on that then because um toilet paper is a paper product and tissues,
they can't go in the recycling bin.
That's like it can't be recycled anymore from that point,
it's just too fine,
the fibers,
it's too.
(30:04):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And generally the toilet paper and the tissues and things we we're saying no as well because it contains bodily fluids.
So we don't want any the germs or the boogers.
Um And then also paper towel is generally used to clean up,
say food spills and things like that.
So that then contaminates that paper towel as well.
So any of those soft tissue paper products are just landfill.
(30:25):
Yeah,
if you um if you have a home compost bin,
you're more than welcome to put them in your compost bin at home and,
and watch them break down that way.
Um And you can actually on that note,
put one or two sheets of paper towel if you want around food scraps to go into your food and garden bin.
And that's just to help absorb any of those liquids and things if you're not using a compostible liner for your food waste.
(30:46):
But yeah,
the best thing I try to do is try and avoid,
uh,
dis using disposable paper where possible anyway.
Um,
because that way you're sort of reducing that waste.
Um,
so yeah,
so after we've talked about the glass and our,
our paper and cardboard,
so that paper and cardboard also makes its way,
um,
that we talked about the,
the paper and cardboard that flies off after the glass,
(31:08):
uh makes its way with the other cardboard items,
which are generally those larger items over 28 centimeters that get sorted.
And as Joel said,
they all get bailed,
which is really good.
Um,
the items then sometimes in that middle category,
I'm not sure if you've seen jewels,
but it's a pretty cool what we call the separator,
which separates out the paper and the cardboard items from other 3D items,
(31:31):
which is the jars,
bottles and containers and things.
So that way that smaller,
you know,
that middle category of,
of items which are generally your shampoo bottles and ice cream tubs and things like that,
um,
go through the separator and they sort of get pulled away.
So the paper gets pulled away from those 3D items and then we've left with our sort of steel and aluminum.
(31:53):
So what's,
what happens with the steel and aluminum.
How does that get?
So as the steel is traveling along the conveyor belt still on its epic journey,
uh It'll reach a point where there's a giant magnet and if you know that steel is magnetic,
you and it will just be picked up and moved on and sorted separately from that point.
(32:14):
And the aluminum has.
This is my favorite.
One of all the processes of the math.
This is my favorite one.
It goes through a certain point where there's um this device called up that emits what's called an eddy current.
All it is is imagine this invisible magnetic field,
but it's opposite to a magnet.
(32:35):
So instead of attracting it,
it will repel the aluminum.
So as it's flying through this conveyor belt and things drop off,
it'll actually have this magnetic field which pings,
the aluminum elsewhere and separate it flying absolutely flying.
Um It's pretty cool to see just everything traveling and suddenly these aluminum bits are going bing bing bing.
(32:57):
Yeah,
you got the,
the conveyor belt going through and all the steel magically just gets lifted up um and attracted and then the,
then you have got the ALF foil that just starts flying.
Obviously,
it's a controlled flight.
They all land into the next section for now that they've been sorted.
But yeah,
it's pretty cool.
It's pretty cool technology that's for sure.
And then once it's all sort of separated all the items,
(33:19):
as you said,
gets bailed up so they get squished into big giant hay bales or blocks and then they're transported elsewhere.
Um The plastic is then sorted into different types as well based on,
on its properties.
Um And the glass is,
isn't bailed,
it actually goes into a giant sort of bag,
I would say technical term um where all the glass fines go into.
(33:42):
So it's a bit safe to make them transporting and,
and things like that.
So,
yeah,
so when it comes to our recycling,
unfortunately,
we have about 15% of contamination in Kingston's recycling.
Um Joel,
so the you might be surprised you might not,
the uh the major contaminants that we are finding in the recycling bin uh in Kingston is what we call non recyclable plastics,
(34:07):
right?
OK.
So that's,
it makes up about 5% of that contamination.
So it's quite a fair amount.
And so they're things that are,
are plastic and people haven't done the Scrunch test for or,
or looked for that recycling logo and unfortunately can't be recycled.
Um And that could be,
you know,
an example could be toys,
you know,
non recyclable plastics and,
(34:27):
and things like that.
So,
really important,
we keep that out.
We also have 4% of food waste.
So 4% of what's in that Kingston recycling bin is food waste.
So again,
this might be due to leftover food waste that could be stuck in that,
you know,
Uber eats container that didn't get eaten,
the half eaten hamburger.
Um,
it could also be bits of pizza sitting in a pizza box.
(34:50):
Um,
so please just a friendly reminder to keep out any of that food waste.
Um,
it can't be recycled in that recycling facility.
It can be composted in the green bin.
So please put it in the green bin.
Um,
because one of the issues that happens at the recycling facility is that the food waste then starts to attract rats and birds and other animals in and,
(35:10):
and we don't want them going into into this facility.
So best to keep that food waste out.
Some other major contamination as well that we know of is bad garbage.
So unfortunately,
sometimes people have a party and often use their yellow bin,
the recycling bin or their green food and garden waste bin as a party overflow uh bin.
(35:32):
So that's when all that bad garbage goes into those bins and people haven't really thought about it.
Maybe it's a guest on their way out to their car has put something into the bin.
Um So please make sure you keep out all of that bad garbage from out of the recycling and your food and garden waste bin as well.
So if I am having a party and I've got tons of waste,
what do I do with the excess?
(35:53):
It's gonna be annoying to hold on to.
It is such a good question.
Yeah,
you might have to,
I would also suggest maybe if you've got some neighbors putting their bins out as well,
maybe,
you know,
if you're friendly with them,
you know,
go knock on their door and making sure you're putting the items correctly into the correct bin.
Maybe just let them know and say,
hey,
I've,
I've had a party,
I've got a couple of,
you know,
(36:13):
I've got a,
a box here of cans.
Can I tip them out into your recycling bin or I've got some,
you know,
garbage,
extra garbage can I,
you know,
use your bin otherwise you might have to hold on to it if you can for the next week or you can take your waste down to a transfer station.
Um We have the Bayside transfer station in Cheltenham um and the Kingston transfer station as well.
(36:34):
Um And those are privately run companies but they will take your waste.
Um They will charge you a fee though depending on what the item is and the quantity,
but that that's also another option as well or you could start thinking about having waste wise parties instead.
Yeah,
that's probably a good point then you don't have to worry about the mess.
(36:56):
Cool.
Alrighty.
So I think that covers up all of our recycling topics and now it's time to chat about the wonderful world of composting and our new food and garden waste bins,
which is pretty cool.
So Jews for,
for those who aren't aware uh,
the city of Kingston introduced a food and garden waste service uh about a year ago,
(37:16):
which means that they can now start adding in your food waste into your garden waste.
So it's still pretty fresh.
Yeah.
Yeah,
it's still pretty new,
but it's fantastic to see the take up that all the residents are getting on board with.
So in the last year,
uh,
49,000 properties have received one of the the compost caddies and compostable liners that we sent out uh last year.
And over another 1000 households have already signed up for a new b new green bin as well.
(37:41):
So that,
that's really exciting to see that take up and,
and just on a side note because of we're now adding food and garden waste,
sorry food waste into the food and garden waste bin.
Um We've seen an increase of about 4000 extra tons of green bin materials coming through the uh the garden facility.
So that's fantastic.
(38:01):
So Kingston residents keep up the great work.
That's really good.
Um But we still have some more food waste that we've highlighted before in that landfill bin.
Love to try and get that into that green bin.
Um So we can compost it.
But yeah,
that it's really good to see.
So what are some tips on getting that food waste capturing that?
(38:22):
Like we got a little kitchen caddy,
but it fills up really quickly.
How do I easily get that into the,
the uh food and garden bin.
Yeah,
really good question.
So,
so one of the things that I definitely think that helps with our food waste um is to use the compostible liners that council have provided.
So these are compostible liners that you can use.
(38:43):
The Kinkster ones.
You can um pop into the council office in Cheltenham and go to their customer care service desk and ask them for another roll just to have a proof of ID and you'll be able to receive another roll.
Doesn't,
doesn't cost you anything,
it's free,
which is really good because we want to try and encourage everyone to do the,
to do the right thing with their composting.
Um Another option is you can purchase your own compostible liners from the supermarket,
(39:08):
but we have many different brands out there that are using the words biodegradable and compostible and it's a bit confusing.
So the best thing to do is don't look for any of that sort of branding.
Please keep an eye out for what we call the seedling logo.
So I'm not sure if you've seen it jus but it's basically like a,
a little seed,
a picture of like a little seedling and it's got like a loop at the bottom to try and show like the arrows to show that it's sort of composted.
(39:34):
Um And it's got generally an Australian standard,
few numbers at the bottom of it as well.
So keep an eye out for that next time you're at the supermarket or,
or likewise pop into council.
Um But yeah,
I recommend using the compostible liners in your caddies.
Now,
the thing is we have,
uh we have had some issues of residents talking about the uh compostible liners not being able to last in the bin for the week.
(39:56):
And that's because that's exactly what they're designed to do is to break down.
So,
a reminder if you are using the compostible liners to maybe tip them out of your caddy or empty them every,
you know,
2 to 3 days because the idea is that the moisture and content inside of the compostible liners from the food will help start breaking down that liner,
(40:16):
right?
So yeah,
you get it from the kitchen to the bin.
Yeah,
and it also helps to deal with other issues as well that you might have.
So just yeah,
to keep that one,
you can also,
if you prefer,
you can use your,
keep your caddy in the fridge and freezer.
I've seen people use that as well and I have also seen people just more than happy to put their food scraps in the green bin loose as well.
(40:37):
So you don't have to use a liner.
It's just there if you want to.
Um But yeah,
I definitely recommend,
you know,
don't leave your food waste in the caddy for a week,
tip it out every couple of days.
It's probably the best thing to do.
Yeah.
So,
so Kingston sends all of our compost um and food and garden waste to a composting facility in Dandenong South,
(40:57):
which again is,
is um local.
It's actually a new facility that's been set up a couple of years ago and it's using some fantastic European technology to help uh compost our food and garden waste.
So,
um basically what happens is all the items are,
are shredded.
They go through sort of a,
a shredding um,
stage where they're sort of all the metals are pulled out and things like that.
(41:19):
But again,
it's probably good to,
to keep all of that food scraps,
just the food scraps in and keep out any of those plastic bags and things like that.
Um,
the materials have the materials.
Have you seen one of these facilities?
Jules?
You might have to come along to a tour if you have to.
Yeah,
I'm,
I'm hoping to set up a few tours now that hopefully we're past all the COVID lockdowns and everything.
(41:43):
But,
um,
it's a fantastic facility where all the materials after they're shredded go into what we call an in vessel composting system.
And that's where,
um,
they're essentially,
they look a little bit like a shipping container.
It's just a very large box that all the compost goes into and that's where they can regulate the temperature,
the air flow and all of the moisture.
(42:03):
And so they can help make the most ideal perfect composting conditions by managing those three things.
After the items have been sit sitting in this um in vessel composting systems for a couple of days.
It will then end up in what we call a wind,
which is basically lines of compost that we have out the back in the,
in the back of the facility.
(42:24):
Um and they're turned every couple of days and they sat,
they,
they're sitting there for about 28 days to fully mature and get that final finished compost,
which is pretty exciting.
The really cool thing jules as well by adding food waste into our compost is we're creating a better quality finished compost.
So they've found that by adding food waste into our uh compost,
(42:46):
our finished compost actually has better water retention and it has lots of positive impacts as well.
So our finished compost not only does it end up in farmland.
So there,
there's actually a couple of large facilities in Kingston that does use the compost,
um which is fantastic.
There's also our local parks and gardens and there's also some farmlands as well in rural Victoria that also use that finished compost mixture as well.
(43:10):
Oh,
that's pretty cool.
So it actually does get used locally.
Yeah.
Yeah,
it's great.
Yeah.
So yeah,
Kingston uses it in parks and gardens and things like that.
So,
so keep an eye out next time you're out walking,
walking around the streets and see if you can spot any sitting in any light in any garden beds and things like that.
So that's great finish compost.
So it's really good to see that we're helping to close that loop on recycling and on composting.
(43:34):
So we're sort of bringing our food waste composting it and bringing it back to council and closing that loop a bit.
So,
yeah,
um when it comes to that compost,
we've got some contamination rates.
Now,
Kingston is very proud to say that we have very low contamination in the recycling bin,
but we do have a few issues with a couple of key things ending up in the uh the compost bin that probably shouldn't or the food and garden waste bin that probably shouldn't end up there.
(44:02):
Do you want to have a guest jewel at what,
what those things might be?
Oh,
well,
if,
if people are using compos bags,
maybe they're using other bags as well.
Yeah.
So the most common one is we're seeing a lot of other plastic bags coming through and that might be because people could be bagging up their garden waste or tying up their garden waste.
So it's like the recycling bin.
(44:22):
Please keep your garden materials loose.
So don't put them in a plastic bag and don't tie them up and please make sure that all of your food scraps uh go into the,
into the bin or if they go into the compost bin,
they go into the bin with a seedling logo or approved liner um council liner as well.
Some other high contamination that we do see a lot of is actually timber and I can see the confusion because people think that timber and wood are similar and you can put the wood in from your back garden sort of thing.
(44:54):
So you could chuck in a timber steak.
But um yeah,
no,
it doesn't go in.
Nice try but no,
please keep out any of your timber steaks.
Um,
even broken bits of pallets,
things like that.
Yeah,
because it's just been treated with chemicals and we have loose nails or staples and whatever in it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Even paint.
Yeah.
(45:14):
Other things like that.
So,
so,
yeah,
the only food and garden items.
So,
you know,
natural garden,
wood,
wood items.
But yeah,
nothing treated or manufactured and things like that as well to keep them out.
Um,
I also meant to say before earlier we touched over it,
but,
um,
both the composting facility and the recycling facility are both very strictly monitored and follow the EPA guidelines,
(45:37):
which is really good to see.
So they're not,
um,
producing any sort of effects into the environment.
Um,
and they're all very strictly monitored and regulated,
which is,
yeah.
Um,
which is really good.
Um,
but I highly recommend coming along to any of our tours and you can see firsthand all of these issues and what happens and what things get turned into as well.
Which is good.
(45:58):
Cool.
Well,
I'm excited to go along to a tour.
That sounds pretty cool.
I'm keen to see where it all goes and,
yeah,
hopefully those can get up and running at some point soon.
Yeah,
I think that's about it for where our west goes and following its journey along.
We've done the red,
yellow and green bin now.
So that's it for today.
(46:20):
So we'll dive a bit deeper into some coming episodes.
Uh a bit more in depth about these things and talk about some of the individual items a bit more.
But we hope you can follow us along for this journey in this uh podcast series for,
for you guys and join us on the next one.
So the next few podcasts we've got just as a bit of a teaser is,
we've got,
the next one is uh talking a bit more about plastic and then we've got another podcast on paper.
(46:45):
We've got one on also a bit more about glass and our metals as well.
And then we're gonna be talking a bit more about our food and garden waste in a bit more depth.
Definitely recommend hanging around and listening to those ones,
but you know,
a bit biased.
Good stuff.
Well,
until next time,
we'll see you again on trash talk.
Thanks.
Bye.
Welcome to trash talk,
the world's trashiest podcast where we sort through your waste and recycling.
Hello,
everybody and welcome to the first Trash Talk podcast.
(00:26):
I am Freya Vicky Council or Kingston Council's Waste Education Officer.
And here with me is the lovely jewels.
And today we're gonna be talking all things trash.
Hello,
everyone.
It's good to be to you.
So,
what we're doing with this podcast series is we're hoping to give uh a breakdown of what happens to your waste.
(00:46):
Where does it go?
What does it get turned into breakdown?
Some of those misconceptions that people have about it.
We're gonna cover topics like plastic and paper,
fogo or food,
waste,
all kinds of things and really break that down and help you understand,
where is it all going and what's it becoming?
I'm gonna bust some myths as well and some common theories that people have that may or may not be correct.
(01:10):
Yeah.
So Kingston Council,
where are we at?
What's happening with our waste frayer?
Yeah,
cool.
So Kingston,
we're doing quite a lot of really good things,
which is great,
but there's definitely some room for improvement where everybody can try and improve on a few different things.
So currently Kingston is sending 28 8000 tons of garbage items to landfill.
(01:33):
Um That's also about 11 Olympic swimming pools.
So it's quite a lot we're sending to landfill when I think maybe when we'll talk a bit more about it that,
you know,
we could get some of those things out of there and start recycling and composting them,
which leads us to um our recycling facility where we're sending about 16,000 tons of recyclable items.
So that's great.
(01:53):
Lots of paper and cardboard and plastic and things like that,
that we can turn into new things.
And lastly our composting.
So we're sending 20,000 tons of food and garden waste to our composting facility uh each year,
which is really,
really good to see.
But I,
I definitely think we could get some of those items out of that landfill and recycle and compost and,
(02:14):
and boost those numbers up a little bit more as well.
So,
yeah.
Wow,
that's,
that's a lot of waste.
Like having that swimming pool visualization really helps to quantify that amount of waste.
It's quite,
it's quite shocking really.
And that's just one council let alone all of Victoria or Australia and quite,
and by size wise as well.
(02:35):
Kingston is definitely not the largest council in Melbourne,
definitely not the smallest.
But um yeah,
it's quite a lot of waste that we're producing and I think together we can all,
you know,
make a few more decisions around home and,
you know,
when we're putting things into what bins and try and get that items out of landfill.
Well,
how about we jump into it and into the red bin and talk about landfill,
(02:56):
jumping into the bin.
Are we right into it?
So the garbage trucks,
they can actually flip quite a few bins,
can't they?
5 to 800?
From my understanding,
it's quite a lot depending on the garbage truck size and how many items are going into the bin.
But that's a fair,
fair amount of uh bins that we can squish into 11 truck,
(03:17):
which is good to see.
And again,
that's helping to reduce our truck movements and multiple runs back and forth to landfill.
But um ideally the best thing to do is if we can reduce our waste in general,
then we can fit more bins into that truck.
Um And less runs out to the landfill.
So yeah,
so we're just gonna bust the mist here with our,
with our landfill bin and that everything that goes into that red rubbish bin or that rubbish bin that we have at home goes into a landfill cell or basically a section of the landfill.
(03:46):
Um It's not sorted beforehand.
It's basically tipped out by the truck and tipped straight into the hole in the ground.
Um So just a as a fun little fact,
the landfill that uh Kingston take all their materials to is based in Dandenong South.
So it's not too far away.
But um yeah,
nothing gets sorted or separated,
just goes straight into that hole.
(04:07):
Um Our landfill there is very strictly regulated and managed um through the EPA and,
and lots of um internal uh rules and regulations that they,
they're strictly monitoring which is really good um to see.
But yeah,
so um and landfills.
So landfills.
Have you seen landfill before?
(04:28):
Jules,
what do you reckon?
Some issues are around landfills for those who haven't been there?
I have,
I've been to a few um one of the issues I've heard about a lot is methane,
like lots of organic waste in there breaking down and just producing a lot of gas.
So what do we do with that?
Yeah.
Well,
(04:48):
as a good thing you mentioned that.
So the average uh Kingston landfill bin or rubbish bin is actually made up of 37% of food,
37% of what is in the average Kingston red bin should actually be getting composted.
Um But actually it it is ending up in landfill and that breakdown of food waste produces that methane gas.
(05:11):
So methane,
for those who aren't too sure about methane gas,
it's about 30 times worse than carbon dioxide and it causes many issues for our environment.
Um So I guess the best thing to do is maybe let's try and get that food waste out of our rubbish bin um to help stop that methane producing at landfill and,
and to get that food waste being composted as well.
(05:32):
Um The other issue as well,
jules is the leachate.
So Lee Ade is like a liquid pollutant.
So it's basically like I like to call it the bin juice of landfill where you have lots of liquid that gathers in large quantities.
Um and generally makes its way down to the bottom of landfill.
So some examples as well,
it could even be some rainwater that's come through or other liquids or things that have come through um your bins at home um and makes its way down to the bottom of landfill.
(06:01):
And it's just really important at landfill that we try and stop that leachate from escaping into the groundwater as well.
So um they say the,
they say that at our local um landfill,
they can capture the methane and the leach chain as well to try and stop that entering into our environment.
(06:22):
Um And that um methane is converted into a,
an energy that they say can a power approximately 6000 homes that it's quite good um in that we're harnessing sort of the bad things that are coming from landfill.
But um ideally,
it's best if we weren't producing the methane in the first place and making sure we're not putting any liquids and things like that into our landfill bin as well.
(06:46):
So,
one of the things I do know about landfills is that once they're full,
we do reuse the land.
It's not like barren or,
you know,
just completely cleared.
We do get to reuse those.
And there's quite a few places within Kingston and other places in Melbourne where they've been turned into Parkland or reserves that they cap it off with a really thick layer of clay,
(07:08):
um and basically seal in all the waste and it sort of starts to undulate and it has to settle for a period of time from my understanding and eventually,
yeah,
we do um you know,
build that back up and put some trees around and nice parks and things like that.
So it's not fantastic that we're burying our waste,
(07:28):
but we try to make the best of a bad situation,
I suppose.
Yeah,
definitely.
And,
and,
and Kingston is actually quite fortunate in a way that we have lots of parks and gardens and sporting um fields that were actually once old landfills that are now settling and as you said,
been topped with the clay and the soil material and now we're using them for outdoor recreation areas as well.
(07:50):
So that that's really good to see and,
and for those who aren't aware of it,
there's a lot of these areas in the Green Wedge area within Kingston as well.
Um So yeah,
there's a lot of old landfills that are,
yeah,
just settling and being used for great outdoor public places,
which is great to see.
So,
yeah.
Now jules on your knowledge of landfill,
I think maybe it's time that we have a bit of a chat about.
(08:12):
What are the common things that go into our rubbish bin?
So we've talked about food waste.
Let's keep our food waste out of that landfill bin.
What other things should we maybe keep out of that landfill bin?
So,
definitely hazardous waste,
things like batteries,
um,
any engine oils and other bits and pieces that uh have a lot of chemicals and heavy metals in them.
(08:35):
Um A lot of that ends up in the shade and leachate is one of the main management problems that landfill has all the juices from things breaking down batteries uh leaking over time as they start to age all of that,
you know,
is quite a toxic mix and creates a real problem.
We really have to be careful managing the landfills,
(08:56):
particularly when they're close to waterways and making sure that the liners of those landfills don't uh have any gaps or breaches in them and,
and jules.
What about um a hot load?
Maybe it's probably best to explain what a hot load is and one of the reasons why we don't have another reason why we aren't allowed batteries in the bins in any trucks because it creates fire.
(09:18):
Fire is bad.
Yeah,
fire is not good.
Yeah,
batteries are one of the number one causes for fires in trucks and also like the recycling facility or,
you know,
potentially maybe at landfill or who whatever facility it's going to.
So a big rule is to please keep out any of your batteries or E waste.
And so E waste is defined as anything with a plug,
(09:39):
a cord or a battery.
Um And please keep them out of any of your bins at home.
We do have a few council drop off locations for our E waste so you can drop off any E waste that is small that would fit into say a 2 40 liter bin similar to what you have at home.
Um And you can drop that off at the West All Library,
(10:00):
the uh council office in Cheltham,
uh the Chelsea Library and the Patterson Lakes Library as well.
But we have a full list on council's website.
So if you jump online to um rubbish and recite at Kingston,
there's a whole page.
They're dedicated to E waste and chemical collections and things like that.
Um So it tells you where to take all those items.
(10:22):
Um So that way we can avoid having a,
a hot load or any,
you know,
disastrous major issues happening in a truck.
So that's the last thing we want.
Yeah,
ideally,
people would be taking it to those drop offs because landfill is the last resort.
It's the things we really can't deal with the E waste and batteries.
There's loads of places you can recycle those and they can be made into new batteries,
(10:42):
they can strip the e waste for metal and precious metals as well,
which we'll cover in a future podcast for sure.
But yeah.
And of landfill in your red bin,
it's the last resort.
That's the last thing that's,
you know,
think about that,
avoid,
reduce reuse,
recycle.
And that last option is dispose and that is what we call our red bin.
(11:03):
Um,
the other thing as well,
some other items.
So while we are talking about disposing,
so we're thinking about what items go into the red bin that can't be um recycled or avoided.
And you know,
nappies is a quite common one.
The disposable nappies,
unfortunately.
Yes,
they can go into your uh red rubbish bin as well as like animal waste and pet feces and things like that.
(11:26):
Um What about uh any ceramics and broken glass and things like that?
Jewels?
Yeah,
those things can't go in your recycling bin.
So that's landfill unfortunately.
And the same with any like vacuum cleaner dust and things like that.
So again,
any of these items that we can't recycle and we can't take elsewhere for recycling and recover things essentially.
(11:49):
Um because we definitely don't want to have any nappies or things like that going in the recycling bin.
I'm not sure what we could turn them into,
so not much.
No,
definitely cool.
Alrighty.
So I think that covers a lot of our landfill chat.
Was there any anything else that we needed to have a chat about?
(12:09):
I think,
I think we're ready to move on to our recycling.
We're following our waste and we've talked about the red litter bin,
which is that last option,
which is dispose.
And now we want to talk all about our recycling.
So we want to bust the myth about what can go into the recycling bin.
What happens at the recycling facility as well?
Um,
and yeah,
so let's,
(12:29):
let's jump into it as,
as I said earlier on,
we're sending 16,000 tons of materials to the recycling facility.
Unfortunately,
of that.
Um,
15% is what we call contamination and they're things that probably shouldn't go into that recycling bin.
But,
um,
we might have a bit more of a chat,
a bit of,
a bit more later on.
But,
(12:49):
uh,
jules,
did you want to run through some of the common items that can go into the recycling bin?
Yeah.
Sure.
So,
paper and cardboard,
that one's pretty straightforward.
Any of your aluminum cans as well as aluminum foil if you scrunch that.
Really?
Yeah.
So about a 10,
this ball orange sort of size ball.
Gather all those pieces up,
(13:10):
scrunch it into a nice tight ball and that will get.
So,
so come Easter time,
gather up all those Easter egg foil,
eggs and put them into a ball.
Look,
I won't lie.
That's a tedious task.
But yes,
absolutely.
It can be recycled.
And what about those trays as well?
Those foil trays.
Yeah,
for your barbecue and stuff.
(13:30):
That's really good.
The cool thing about aluminum is it can be infinitely recycled.
It's really,
really good.
We want to capture that.
If it's put in landfill,
it's just lost forever.
I've heard that the energy saved from recycling aluminum,
the energy saved from having to go and dig up more bauxite,
which is the rock that is turned into aluminum.
(13:50):
You can turn your TV on for three hours.
Wow,
that's such a long time.
So,
you know.
Yeah,
it's really important.
We cover all of that aluminum and we don't send it to landfill and we can recycle it that infinite number of times.
Yeah,
that's super cool.
Yeah.
What else can go in?
So any steel cans and steel can aerosols?
Um,
they're all good to go in.
(14:12):
That's just another metal and turns into sheet metal and other things like that.
Now,
glass bottles and jars.
We said before that Pyrex can't go in that bin.
Now with glass,
it's a little bit tricky.
But basically if you have any food or liquids in it,
if you bought it at a supermarket or a store and had food or liquid,
(14:34):
it can go in the recycling bin.
If it's any other type of glass,
like your drinking glasses or Pyrex or window glass,
those have been heat treated and they can't be processed the same.
So basically just keep it simple if it was a food container,
put it in,
if it's glass,
if you bought it with food or drink in it.
(14:56):
Yeah,
it can be recycled.
If you haven't bought it with food or drink in it,
like a wine glass or drinking glass,
it must go in the rubbish bin.
Yeah,
that's it.
Yeah.
And then plastics.
So,
plastics is probably one of the more confusing parts but hard plastics is what we want.
Things like ice cream containers,
biscuit trays.
Um,
(15:16):
any plastic tubs from like peanut butter or other food products.
So,
like any sort of food packaging that are plastic items.
So anything you like from the kitchen and,
and maybe chuck in a few like detergent bottles and shampoo conditioner bottles and things like that.
So,
yeah.
Yeah.
So any of anything that's hard and rigid,
if it's soft,
(15:36):
we don't want it.
There's a separate process for that.
You can do that elsewhere but not in your yellow bin.
So what's a good way to,
um,
to work that out?
So you said something about the soft?
Yeah,
there's a good,
simple test.
It's called a Scrunch test.
So if you can grab like the tim tam outside wrapper of a packet and you can scrunch it into a bowl that's considered a soft plastic.
(15:59):
If it's hard and rigid,
you can't really squeeze an ice-cream container unless you're the whole and spinach.
Yeah,
that's it.
So it's,
yeah,
if you can scrunch that plastic into,
into your fist.
It's considered soft plastic and you can take that to Coles or Woolies.
Um There's red cycle or soft plastic recycling programs in a few places around um Kingston and of course,
(16:23):
Victoria in general um collect those up and put them in those bins.
That's the best place to do it.
So this is a a again,
we're busting another myth here.
When it comes to plastics,
please do not look for the triangle or the number.
They are an industry specific code um that relate to the industry.
It doesn't tell us if that item can then be recycled.
(16:45):
So the best thing to do is to do this crunch test that jules is talking about.
So if you're unsure if it's a food sort of packaging,
um plastic item scrunch it into the ball of your hand if it's a soft plastic,
it,
so it's an unmold shape like you said,
like a frozen beet,
a frozen pea bag or maybe a,
a bread bag,
things like that that can scrunch up.
(17:06):
Um That is a soft plastics and must go into your rubbish bin or you can take it back to the supermarket for recycling.
Um However,
any hard rigid food packaging sort of items uh can go into your recycling bin.
So that's a good one.
Another one just as a,
a fun factor,
a little tip to keep an eye out for is Planet Arc.
Have released some new um logos that we're gonna start seeing on more and more packaging and that will help show everyone what item can and can't be recycled.
(17:35):
So it will have a little picture and it might say,
say for example,
the biscuit tray,
it will say tray with a little picture of the recycling bin and says that can be recycled.
And then the say that that using the Tim Tam packaging,
the outside plastic packaging,
the soft plastic packaging,
um that is,
it will say that is a soft plastic.
Please return to your supermarket for recycling.
(17:58):
Yeah,
I've seen them on a few products but I think it's just a few brands that have signed up to.
I'm pretty sure it's called the Australasian Recycling Label.
So I think you'll find it on the back of the packaging,
unfortunately,
sort of near the ingredients and nutrition information,
but they should be larger than the other bits of information still in black and white.
(18:18):
But yeah,
it's really helpful showing the tray goes here,
the wrapper goes here and if there's any other bits to that product,
it will tell you what to do with it.
Yeah,
yeah,
I did say actually on a Ferrero share box coming uh buying some uh friends,
some chock and they did have like a whole different,
you know,
because you've got the foil,
you've got the little tray thing that they sit in and then the plastic tray,
(18:40):
the paper paddy and then you've got the cardboard lining and so that's very detailed.
But yeah,
it's good to see more and more companies and brands.
Um yeah,
picking it up and,
and using it.
So that's really good and really helpful for everybody as well.
So basically look for that label.
Don't look at the recycling symbol and and again,
jumping back to that recycling symbol,
(19:01):
jules,
one of the confusion,
major confusion points that a lot of residents face is they do look for that triangle and,
and the reason one of the reasons why we say don't look at that triangle is for example,
um a margarine pub is a plastic number five which can be recycled,
but then polystyrene.
So if you have any packaging that's polystyrene around a fridge or a TV,
(19:22):
that's also a plastic number five.
And that's where it gets confusing because if you start looking at numbers and they say plastic fives are recyclable,
you'll be putting that polystyrene in and,
and polystyrene has a huge impact um and causes many different issues at the recycling factory and I'm sure you've probably seen it.
But uh polystyrene for those who aren't aware when it gets to recycling facility,
(19:44):
it sort of breaks down looks a bit like snow and goes everywhere.
It makes a huge mess.
So really,
really important that we keep that polystyrene out and just go back to that soft and hard Scrunch test or look for those labels as well of the new logos and to know what can and can't go into what bin.
So,
so once I have put all my stuff in the recycling bin correctly and you make sure what about the,
(20:10):
the old rule jewels about plastic bags?
They're putting things in the recycling bin while we're here?
Is,
is it ok to put it in plastic bags or do we keep them in loose?
Uh,
and what about those newspapers that I can't be bothered reading?
And I just,
them straight into the recycling bin.
Yeah,
absolutely.
Newspaper is totally fine plastic bags.
(20:31):
No.
Going back to the scrunch test.
I can scrunch a plastic bag into my fist.
So that is soft plastic.
So that has to go to your Red cycle or your supermarket wherever else.
Uh,
you can drop it off at,
but we need to keep those items loose.
So we're about to dive in,
into what happens with these items.
But it's so important.
(20:51):
You don't stuff your bottles into,
like an Uber eats bag or whatever other packaging you find around,
into boxes.
Yeah.
Don't do that.
Just keep it 100% loose if you bought it loose,
bin it loose.
Yeah.
Just keep it loose.
It's really important and it helps the recycling process so much and,
and that goes well for bundling things as well.
(21:12):
So don't bundle any newspapers or if you've got newspaper with the plastic wrapping that you haven't read for whatever reason,
please separate those items and please keep those recycling loose.
Um Not in plastic bags.
A really common thing that we do see in Kingston is residents put their recycling in a plastic bag in their home and then take it out and then put that plastic bag with all that lovely recycling into the bin.
(21:36):
And unfortunately,
that won't get recycled.
So really important to um as a tip to avoid using a plastic bag to put your recyclables in,
in the home.
Maybe I use a,
I use an old,
um,
reusable bag or I know people use boxes,
crates old washing baskets,
whatever you've found,
try and reuse something.
Um,
and that way it will help stop that potential of that plastic bag with recycling in it ending up in the recycling bin.
(22:01):
Sounds like a good idea to me.
Yeah.
So what happens at the recycling facility?
Well,
jules,
the recycling facility is also known as the materials recovery facility and lots of exciting things happen here.
So,
so what's one of the first things that happens when the truck gets to the recycling facility?
Well,
he'll just dump out the rubbish recycling.
(22:25):
No.
So it's pretty cool and I don't know if there's opportunities for residents to do a tour at the,
the,
the material recovery facility.
I'm gonna call it Murph.
Murph is the industry term.
Um,
but it's so eye opening to go to those and see the amount of uh recycling that we produce.
(22:47):
It's pretty amazing,
but it basically gets tipped into a big open shed and where it starts its journey is a front loader will come along and scoop up a bit and drop a ton of it onto a conveyor belt.
And as that conveyor belt moves the material along there will be the first line of defense,
a few pickers.
So there's actual people in this Murph facility that are handling your waste with gloves,
(23:15):
but they're picking off things that are really obvious that shouldn't be in there.
Like your plastic bags that you've filled up full of nice bottles that can be recycled that just gets picked off and tossed straight to landfill because it's a bit of a safety hazard to open it up.
They can't always see what's in there.
Unfortunately,
that's what happens to it.
I've heard a few rumors and I've seen a few things at the Murph being pulled off like I remember one time and for those um who aren't aware we,
(23:40):
yes,
we do run tours to the recycling facility.
We have obviously haven't run any in the last couple of years due to COVID.
Um But if you are interested in coming along to any of our recycling workshops or tours,
um we do advertise a lot of our tours and things through the sustainability e newsletter that's run by Kingston Sustainability Team.
So please sign up to that to be updated and notified about the,
(24:03):
about the next tours.
But on one of the tours I have been to,
I saw one of the hand slaughters pulling out the biggest teddy bear I have ever seen in my life.
I reckon the teddy bear would have been about 2 m.
I don't know how it got into the bin in the first place.
It was from Costco.
Yeah,
probably one of those Costco ones.
Yeah.
So,
I'm not sure.
(24:23):
Um,
the reasoning why it went into the recycling bin for everyone listening at home are teddy bears cannot be recycled.
Um,
and unfortunately,
uh,
it got pulled out and sent to landfill but some other things that I've seen pulling out,
um,
by the hand sorters,
there is unfortunately gas bottles from like a barbecue.
(24:43):
So that's really hazardous.
So,
really important to keep them out.
Um,
I've also seen suitcases and camp chairs.
So again,
try and make sure we keep all those items out of,
uh,
the recycling bin.
But one of the other biggest things that I do see the hand sort of in this first stage pulling out is any of that plastic strapping tape.
(25:04):
So,
you know,
if you're buying like a fridge or something and they might have that plastic tie or that it's sort of like a hard plastic,
but it's still that packaging tape,
yellow or white in color.
Um,
they cause so many issues at the Murph with all the machinery because they very easily can get stuck around all the different types of machinery and the,
the spinny bits and sorry,
(25:25):
don't know the full technical terms for the individual parts of the conveyor belt.
But um cause massive issues.
So really important that we keep all of that strapping tape um out of the recycling bin because that's what the hand sorters pull out as well.
So,
yeah,
so after our material passes through the uh the hand sorters,
um,
(25:45):
it then goes into two Troels which use this gravity to help separate out all the different items.
Um,
so they're,
they're essentially trying to sort the items in the first stage into these three sizes.
So you've got items that are smaller than 18 centimeters,
items that are sort of 18 to 28 centimeters and then you've got bigger items and that's generally your cardboard and things like that,
(26:09):
um,
that we have coming through.
So,
just on that.
What the heck is a tromble?
Oh,
sorry,
jumping ahead of myself.
What is a tromble did you wanna?
Ok.
So basically it's a giant tube,
imagine like,
um,
a kid slide at the pet playground,
like the enclosed ones or a mcdonald's,
(26:31):
um,
playground or whatever,
a giant plastic tube or maybe metal that has a bunch of circular holes cut out of it.
And as Freya said,
those different sized items fall out at different points.
So as all the materials passing through in these holes,
different sizes that travels through the two different troubles.
(26:52):
Uh they drop out into different bins and will move on conveyor belts elsewhere.
So giant tube,
big holes on it and it's angled so that gravity um moves it in one direction.
Basically for those actually on a,
on a side note,
going off topic a little bit here.
Jules.
But uh for those who have grown up in Kingston and it was a nineties kid,
(27:13):
uh there used to be a fun place called Rainbow World in Parkdale.
And they had a giant um spinny wheel that used to like it was almost like the inside of a big pit with,
yeah,
like a hamster wheel.
And all the kids used to slide in it and try and see if we could do the full 3 60.
But in those days didn't know so much about gravity and always fell down.
But um yeah,
(27:33):
it's essentially like one of those,
but with holes in it.
So all your recycling goes into a hamster wheel with holes to sort out the different sizes and then from the different sizes,
it then gets sorted.
So,
um so for the smaller category,
so for that up to 18 centimeters category,
it's generally glass that we find.
(27:53):
So glass bottles,
glass jars,
even um glass sort of shards and things that may have been broken in the truck as well.
Um And they sort of end up going on this sort of vibration um screen or conveyor belt to help separate that contamination out.
Um And then the glass goes through this pretty cool little uh,
zig zag,
what we call a separation system which helps remove any paper.
(28:16):
So it sort of sends this blast of air through and any of the lighter paper sort of flies out the top and the glass falls through.
Um And then once,
once that glass is separated,
it's then uh taken to another facility where it can be crushed into fine sand.
Um,
I know they use a lot of this glass in asphalt and,
and road base and construction work and things like that.
(28:38):
So that's really good as well as also melting down glass and recycling it into other bottles and jars and things like that as well.
So,
very cool.
So,
with the paper being blasted off,
that goes to another section of the Murph and essentially gets bundled into these giant hay bales of paper and cardboard and they get shipped off to be pulped.
(29:02):
Yes.
Yeah,
they get popped and turned into more paper products.
So that could be writing paper,
newspaper,
toilet paper,
um,
even paper based kitty litter as well.
So all that paper can go off there.
So,
one of the things I've heard about paper is that it can only be recycled about seven or eight times.
Is that right?
Yeah.
(29:23):
Unfortunately,
it does lose its quality over the time.
Whereas,
as we were talking about before,
with aluminum aluminum can be recycled an infinite number of times.
Whereas paper will eventually lose its quality over time.
And again,
let's face it once the paper has become toilet paper,
do we really want to recycle it?
Yeah,
I think that's the end of the line.
Yeah.
Leave it at that one and let it be.
(29:44):
So,
yeah.
So it is important to still recycle your paper.
Just be aware that it can only be recycled a certain number of times.
So just touching on that then because um toilet paper is a paper product and tissues,
they can't go in the recycling bin.
That's like it can't be recycled anymore from that point,
it's just too fine,
the fibers,
it's too.
(30:04):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And generally the toilet paper and the tissues and things we we're saying no as well because it contains bodily fluids.
So we don't want any the germs or the boogers.
Um And then also paper towel is generally used to clean up,
say food spills and things like that.
So that then contaminates that paper towel as well.
So any of those soft tissue paper products are just landfill.
(30:25):
Yeah,
if you um if you have a home compost bin,
you're more than welcome to put them in your compost bin at home and,
and watch them break down that way.
Um And you can actually on that note,
put one or two sheets of paper towel if you want around food scraps to go into your food and garden bin.
And that's just to help absorb any of those liquids and things if you're not using a compostible liner for your food waste.
(30:46):
But yeah,
the best thing I try to do is try and avoid,
uh,
dis using disposable paper where possible anyway.
Um,
because that way you're sort of reducing that waste.
Um,
so yeah,
so after we've talked about the glass and our,
our paper and cardboard,
so that paper and cardboard also makes its way,
um,
that we talked about the,
the paper and cardboard that flies off after the glass,
(31:08):
uh makes its way with the other cardboard items,
which are generally those larger items over 28 centimeters that get sorted.
And as Joel said,
they all get bailed,
which is really good.
Um,
the items then sometimes in that middle category,
I'm not sure if you've seen jewels,
but it's a pretty cool what we call the separator,
which separates out the paper and the cardboard items from other 3D items,
(31:31):
which is the jars,
bottles and containers and things.
So that way that smaller,
you know,
that middle category of,
of items which are generally your shampoo bottles and ice cream tubs and things like that,
um,
go through the separator and they sort of get pulled away.
So the paper gets pulled away from those 3D items and then we've left with our sort of steel and aluminum.
(31:53):
So what's,
what happens with the steel and aluminum.
How does that get?
So as the steel is traveling along the conveyor belt still on its epic journey,
uh It'll reach a point where there's a giant magnet and if you know that steel is magnetic,
you and it will just be picked up and moved on and sorted separately from that point.
(32:14):
And the aluminum has.
This is my favorite.
One of all the processes of the math.
This is my favorite one.
It goes through a certain point where there's um this device called up that emits what's called an eddy current.
All it is is imagine this invisible magnetic field,
but it's opposite to a magnet.
(32:35):
So instead of attracting it,
it will repel the aluminum.
So as it's flying through this conveyor belt and things drop off,
it'll actually have this magnetic field which pings,
the aluminum elsewhere and separate it flying absolutely flying.
Um It's pretty cool to see just everything traveling and suddenly these aluminum bits are going bing bing bing.
(32:57):
Yeah,
you got the,
the conveyor belt going through and all the steel magically just gets lifted up um and attracted and then the,
then you have got the ALF foil that just starts flying.
Obviously,
it's a controlled flight.
They all land into the next section for now that they've been sorted.
But yeah,
it's pretty cool.
It's pretty cool technology that's for sure.
And then once it's all sort of separated all the items,
(33:19):
as you said,
gets bailed up so they get squished into big giant hay bales or blocks and then they're transported elsewhere.
Um The plastic is then sorted into different types as well based on,
on its properties.
Um And the glass is,
isn't bailed,
it actually goes into a giant sort of bag,
I would say technical term um where all the glass fines go into.
(33:42):
So it's a bit safe to make them transporting and,
and things like that.
So,
yeah,
so when it comes to our recycling,
unfortunately,
we have about 15% of contamination in Kingston's recycling.
Um Joel,
so the you might be surprised you might not,
the uh the major contaminants that we are finding in the recycling bin uh in Kingston is what we call non recyclable plastics,
(34:07):
right?
OK.
So that's,
it makes up about 5% of that contamination.
So it's quite a fair amount.
And so they're things that are,
are plastic and people haven't done the Scrunch test for or,
or looked for that recycling logo and unfortunately can't be recycled.
Um And that could be,
you know,
an example could be toys,
you know,
non recyclable plastics and,
(34:27):
and things like that.
So,
really important,
we keep that out.
We also have 4% of food waste.
So 4% of what's in that Kingston recycling bin is food waste.
So again,
this might be due to leftover food waste that could be stuck in that,
you know,
Uber eats container that didn't get eaten,
the half eaten hamburger.
Um,
it could also be bits of pizza sitting in a pizza box.
(34:50):
Um,
so please just a friendly reminder to keep out any of that food waste.
Um,
it can't be recycled in that recycling facility.
It can be composted in the green bin.
So please put it in the green bin.
Um,
because one of the issues that happens at the recycling facility is that the food waste then starts to attract rats and birds and other animals in and,
(35:10):
and we don't want them going into into this facility.
So best to keep that food waste out.
Some other major contamination as well that we know of is bad garbage.
So unfortunately,
sometimes people have a party and often use their yellow bin,
the recycling bin or their green food and garden waste bin as a party overflow uh bin.
(35:32):
So that's when all that bad garbage goes into those bins and people haven't really thought about it.
Maybe it's a guest on their way out to their car has put something into the bin.
Um So please make sure you keep out all of that bad garbage from out of the recycling and your food and garden waste bin as well.
So if I am having a party and I've got tons of waste,
what do I do with the excess?
(35:53):
It's gonna be annoying to hold on to.
It is such a good question.
Yeah,
you might have to,
I would also suggest maybe if you've got some neighbors putting their bins out as well,
maybe,
you know,
if you're friendly with them,
you know,
go knock on their door and making sure you're putting the items correctly into the correct bin.
Maybe just let them know and say,
hey,
I've,
I've had a party,
I've got a couple of,
you know,
(36:13):
I've got a,
a box here of cans.
Can I tip them out into your recycling bin or I've got some,
you know,
garbage,
extra garbage can I,
you know,
use your bin otherwise you might have to hold on to it if you can for the next week or you can take your waste down to a transfer station.
Um We have the Bayside transfer station in Cheltenham um and the Kingston transfer station as well.
(36:34):
Um And those are privately run companies but they will take your waste.
Um They will charge you a fee though depending on what the item is and the quantity,
but that that's also another option as well or you could start thinking about having waste wise parties instead.
Yeah,
that's probably a good point then you don't have to worry about the mess.
(36:56):
Cool.
Alrighty.
So I think that covers up all of our recycling topics and now it's time to chat about the wonderful world of composting and our new food and garden waste bins,
which is pretty cool.
So Jews for,
for those who aren't aware uh,
the city of Kingston introduced a food and garden waste service uh about a year ago,
(37:16):
which means that they can now start adding in your food waste into your garden waste.
So it's still pretty fresh.
Yeah.
Yeah,
it's still pretty new,
but it's fantastic to see the take up that all the residents are getting on board with.
So in the last year,
uh,
49,000 properties have received one of the the compost caddies and compostable liners that we sent out uh last year.
And over another 1000 households have already signed up for a new b new green bin as well.
(37:41):
So that,
that's really exciting to see that take up and,
and just on a side note because of we're now adding food and garden waste,
sorry food waste into the food and garden waste bin.
Um We've seen an increase of about 4000 extra tons of green bin materials coming through the uh the garden facility.
So that's fantastic.
(38:01):
So Kingston residents keep up the great work.
That's really good.
Um But we still have some more food waste that we've highlighted before in that landfill bin.
Love to try and get that into that green bin.
Um So we can compost it.
But yeah,
that it's really good to see.
So what are some tips on getting that food waste capturing that?
(38:22):
Like we got a little kitchen caddy,
but it fills up really quickly.
How do I easily get that into the,
the uh food and garden bin.
Yeah,
really good question.
So,
so one of the things that I definitely think that helps with our food waste um is to use the compostible liners that council have provided.
So these are compostible liners that you can use.
(38:43):
The Kinkster ones.
You can um pop into the council office in Cheltenham and go to their customer care service desk and ask them for another roll just to have a proof of ID and you'll be able to receive another roll.
Doesn't,
doesn't cost you anything,
it's free,
which is really good because we want to try and encourage everyone to do the,
to do the right thing with their composting.
Um Another option is you can purchase your own compostible liners from the supermarket,
(39:08):
but we have many different brands out there that are using the words biodegradable and compostible and it's a bit confusing.
So the best thing to do is don't look for any of that sort of branding.
Please keep an eye out for what we call the seedling logo.
So I'm not sure if you've seen it jus but it's basically like a,
a little seed,
a picture of like a little seedling and it's got like a loop at the bottom to try and show like the arrows to show that it's sort of composted.
(39:34):
Um And it's got generally an Australian standard,
few numbers at the bottom of it as well.
So keep an eye out for that next time you're at the supermarket or,
or likewise pop into council.
Um But yeah,
I recommend using the compostible liners in your caddies.
Now,
the thing is we have,
uh we have had some issues of residents talking about the uh compostible liners not being able to last in the bin for the week.
(39:56):
And that's because that's exactly what they're designed to do is to break down.
So,
a reminder if you are using the compostible liners to maybe tip them out of your caddy or empty them every,
you know,
2 to 3 days because the idea is that the moisture and content inside of the compostible liners from the food will help start breaking down that liner,
(40:16):
right?
So yeah,
you get it from the kitchen to the bin.
Yeah,
and it also helps to deal with other issues as well that you might have.
So just yeah,
to keep that one,
you can also,
if you prefer,
you can use your,
keep your caddy in the fridge and freezer.
I've seen people use that as well and I have also seen people just more than happy to put their food scraps in the green bin loose as well.
(40:37):
So you don't have to use a liner.
It's just there if you want to.
Um But yeah,
I definitely recommend,
you know,
don't leave your food waste in the caddy for a week,
tip it out every couple of days.
It's probably the best thing to do.
Yeah.
So,
so Kingston sends all of our compost um and food and garden waste to a composting facility in Dandenong South,
(40:57):
which again is,
is um local.
It's actually a new facility that's been set up a couple of years ago and it's using some fantastic European technology to help uh compost our food and garden waste.
So,
um basically what happens is all the items are,
are shredded.
They go through sort of a,
a shredding um,
stage where they're sort of all the metals are pulled out and things like that.
(41:19):
But again,
it's probably good to,
to keep all of that food scraps,
just the food scraps in and keep out any of those plastic bags and things like that.
Um,
the materials have the materials.
Have you seen one of these facilities?
Jules?
You might have to come along to a tour if you have to.
Yeah,
I'm,
I'm hoping to set up a few tours now that hopefully we're past all the COVID lockdowns and everything.
(41:43):
But,
um,
it's a fantastic facility where all the materials after they're shredded go into what we call an in vessel composting system.
And that's where,
um,
they're essentially,
they look a little bit like a shipping container.
It's just a very large box that all the compost goes into and that's where they can regulate the temperature,
the air flow and all of the moisture.
(42:03):
And so they can help make the most ideal perfect composting conditions by managing those three things.
After the items have been sit sitting in this um in vessel composting systems for a couple of days.
It will then end up in what we call a wind,
which is basically lines of compost that we have out the back in the,
in the back of the facility.
(42:24):
Um and they're turned every couple of days and they sat,
they,
they're sitting there for about 28 days to fully mature and get that final finished compost,
which is pretty exciting.
The really cool thing jules as well by adding food waste into our compost is we're creating a better quality finished compost.
So they've found that by adding food waste into our uh compost,
(42:46):
our finished compost actually has better water retention and it has lots of positive impacts as well.
So our finished compost not only does it end up in farmland.
So there,
there's actually a couple of large facilities in Kingston that does use the compost,
um which is fantastic.
There's also our local parks and gardens and there's also some farmlands as well in rural Victoria that also use that finished compost mixture as well.
(43:10):
Oh,
that's pretty cool.
So it actually does get used locally.
Yeah.
Yeah,
it's great.
Yeah.
So yeah,
Kingston uses it in parks and gardens and things like that.
So,
so keep an eye out next time you're out walking,
walking around the streets and see if you can spot any sitting in any light in any garden beds and things like that.
So that's great finish compost.
So it's really good to see that we're helping to close that loop on recycling and on composting.
(43:34):
So we're sort of bringing our food waste composting it and bringing it back to council and closing that loop a bit.
So,
yeah,
um when it comes to that compost,
we've got some contamination rates.
Now,
Kingston is very proud to say that we have very low contamination in the recycling bin,
but we do have a few issues with a couple of key things ending up in the uh the compost bin that probably shouldn't or the food and garden waste bin that probably shouldn't end up there.
(44:02):
Do you want to have a guest jewel at what,
what those things might be?
Oh,
well,
if,
if people are using compos bags,
maybe they're using other bags as well.
Yeah.
So the most common one is we're seeing a lot of other plastic bags coming through and that might be because people could be bagging up their garden waste or tying up their garden waste.
So it's like the recycling bin.
(44:22):
Please keep your garden materials loose.
So don't put them in a plastic bag and don't tie them up and please make sure that all of your food scraps uh go into the,
into the bin or if they go into the compost bin,
they go into the bin with a seedling logo or approved liner um council liner as well.
Some other high contamination that we do see a lot of is actually timber and I can see the confusion because people think that timber and wood are similar and you can put the wood in from your back garden sort of thing.
(44:54):
So you could chuck in a timber steak.
But um yeah,
no,
it doesn't go in.
Nice try but no,
please keep out any of your timber steaks.
Um,
even broken bits of pallets,
things like that.
Yeah,
because it's just been treated with chemicals and we have loose nails or staples and whatever in it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Even paint.
Yeah.
(45:14):
Other things like that.
So,
so,
yeah,
the only food and garden items.
So,
you know,
natural garden,
wood,
wood items.
But yeah,
nothing treated or manufactured and things like that as well to keep them out.
Um,
I also meant to say before earlier we touched over it,
but,
um,
both the composting facility and the recycling facility are both very strictly monitored and follow the EPA guidelines,
(45:37):
which is really good to see.
So they're not,
um,
producing any sort of effects into the environment.
Um,
and they're all very strictly monitored and regulated,
which is,
yeah.
Um,
which is really good.
Um,
but I highly recommend coming along to any of our tours and you can see firsthand all of these issues and what happens and what things get turned into as well.
Which is good.
(45:58):
Cool.
Well,
I'm excited to go along to a tour.
That sounds pretty cool.
I'm keen to see where it all goes and,
yeah,
hopefully those can get up and running at some point soon.
Yeah,
I think that's about it for where our west goes and following its journey along.
We've done the red,
yellow and green bin now.
So that's it for today.
(46:20):
So we'll dive a bit deeper into some coming episodes.
Uh a bit more in depth about these things and talk about some of the individual items a bit more.
But we hope you can follow us along for this journey in this uh podcast series for,
for you guys and join us on the next one.
So the next few podcasts we've got just as a bit of a teaser is,
we've got,
the next one is uh talking a bit more about plastic and then we've got another podcast on paper.
(46:45):
We've got one on also a bit more about glass and our metals as well.
And then we're gonna be talking a bit more about our food and garden waste in a bit more depth.
Definitely recommend hanging around and listening to those ones,
but you know,
a bit biased.
Good stuff.
Well,
until next time,
we'll see you again on trash talk.
Thanks.
Bye.
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