August 17, 2022 • 29 mins
Do you get confused when it comes to recycling plastic? So do we.
We’re talking all things plastic, and those confusing packaging logos, on the City of Kingston’s new waste podcast.
Visit our A to Z of waste disposal guide for information on how you can recycle and dispose of waste items correctly.
*Please note: The soft plastics recycling service at Coles and Woolworths is currently suspended. In the meantime, soft plastics go in the landfill bin (please make sure that soft plastics are not placed in recycle bins).
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Welcome to trash talk,
the world's trashiest podcast where we sort through your waste and recycling.
Hello,
everyone and welcome again to the Trash Talk podcast.
(00:26):
I'm Freya Council's Waste Education Officer for the city of Kingston and here with me is my colleague,
Jules.
Hello.
And today we're talking all things trash.
So today's topic or for this episode is so plastic.
Fantastic.
Is it?
So let's jump straight in.
(00:46):
So Jules,
what type of plastic can we recycle?
Alright.
So what we're really after is rigid plastics that come from your household packaging.
So things like uh detergents or ice cream containers,
peanut butter jars,
uh Tim Tam trays,
not the wrapper.
(01:07):
Oh man,
there's so many things made of plastic.
It's quite overwhelming.
We do live in a world of plastic.
We've got it everywhere from the bathroom to the kitchen,
to the laundry in the fridge,
in the pantry.
It it's everywhere even under the sink.
Yeah,
everything is covered in plastic.
But yeah,
I guess when it comes down to it,
what we want to chat about today is how can we work out what type of plastic can be recycled?
(01:31):
Um And,
and how you can work it out at home.
So some tips around that.
So guess what you're saying is any sort of hard,
rigid sort of packaging,
household packaging item that you've purchased say from,
from the supermarket is a really good one.
that,
that can be recycled.
So one of the key things that we like to do to work out the differences between the plastics because there is many different types out there.
(01:54):
It's called the Scrunch test.
Now,
the Scrunch test when we go into schools and do our waste education program with schools,
we get the kids to stand up in front.
Um and we get them to hold,
say for example,
a bread bag and someone gets to hold a plastic bottle.
And what you have to do with the Scrunch test is to work out which one can be recycled is to scrunch your plastic up into a tiny little ball.
(02:18):
And if the item can be scrunched up into the ball,
it means it's a soft plastic.
And where does our soft plastics go?
Which bin bin?
Yeah.
So all of our soft plastics um are not able to be recycled.
And one of the reasons why is because they are so flexible and bendy,
(02:40):
they can very easily get stuck in the machinery.
Um So it's best to please keep them out.
If they do get stuck in the machinery at the recycling factory,
they can cause um stoppages and we have to shut,
you know,
the whole parts of the facility down.
Sometimes it can also cause fires and things like that if it heats up and there's a lot of friction involved.
So please keep any of your soft scrunch plastic out of the recycling bin.
(03:05):
Um You can drop it off at your local Coles or Woolworths supermarkets.
And that soft plastic is actually taken locally to a company called Repla in Karim Downs.
So Kingston,
so that soft plastics for Kingston goes,
goes there to repla and replays do all sorts of exciting things with their soft plastic so they can turn it into um tables and chairs you may have seen at local parks and gardens,
(03:29):
bollards,
imitation sort of decking.
It's quite handy.
You don't have to actually oil your,
your decking.
You just get some of this,
which is quite easy.
So,
yeah,
soft plastics are a really good way to um recycle,
but just not in your yellow lidded recycling bin at home.
And I guess going back to that scrunch test.
So if your plastic is soft,
(03:49):
it's a soft plastic.
What about those hard rigid containers?
So,
anything that's that molded,
hard shape like Jules was just saying before,
like an ice-cream container or a plastic water bottle.
Um If you can't scrunch it up into the ball of your hand,
it means it's a hard plastic and it can be recycled.
So that's a one easy step to work out.
If your plastic can be recycled or not something else that might um help be helpful as well.
(04:14):
Is to look for the these new logos um that Jules was talking about in episode one,
if you wanted to elaborate some more about these A RL logos from Planet A Yeah.
So the Australasian recycling label is a initiative by Planet Ark to help everyone just know what to recycle because as we said,
we live in a world of plastic.
(04:36):
There's so many different items out there.
So you'll generally find it on the back of a product near the ingredients or the nutritional information and it will have a breakdown of the different items involved in that product.
So as we talked about in episode one,
the Tas an Australian Institution,
(04:57):
there's the tray which they all nest in nicely and there's the wrapper that's the outside.
So the tray is a rigid plastic.
If you scrunch that thing up,
it's just gonna bounce back to shape more or less.
But the uh the wrapper itself can be scrunched up into a ball.
It's that softer plastic.
(05:19):
So it'll tell you on the back,
put the wrapper in the bin or to take it.
Uh elsewhere,
it might say,
which is those soft plastic recycling bins you find at many supermarkets and the tray itself will say,
put in the recycling bin,
it's really handy.
It'll keep rolling out across more products over time.
(05:39):
So they're not on every product just yet.
No,
not every product,
it's particularly hard with like imported products um,
from different countries.
So,
unfortunately,
I don't know what their solution is with that at the moment,
but the ones that are locally produced here or major brands are slowly coming on board to that and having that printed on the labels to be helpful to everyone.
(06:02):
And the last thing,
um if you are confused and you're unsure about where your soft plastics go.
So,
so there's three simple steps that I recommend.
The first one is trying the Scrunch test and if you're unsure,
then have a look and see if you can find this new logo.
And then the last option would be um to check Council's website.
So we have a fantastic website called the A to Z Guide of Waste and Recycling um on Kingston's website and it has lots of different things on there and I've gone into quite specific items as well.
(06:35):
So please feel free to jump on there and have a look and see if your item is on there.
And likewise,
if you're unsure uh at the top is a,
a link that says can't find something or unsure,
send us an email and that email will come to myself and I'll be able to sort it out for you and then update our list as well.
So there's three simple little quick steps that you can do to try and make sure that we're recycling correctly.
(07:00):
So we also have a few other common questions that were asked by residents.
So,
Jules,
what's the story with Polo Styrene?
Yeah.
So,
polystyrene is plastic.
There's no doubt about that,
but it's called,
well,
there's actually different types of polystyrene.
So you might see some meat trays that are still polysar.
But then you've got polystyrene that comes with electronics like a TV or a computer or other things like that that are expanded.
(07:27):
Polystyrene.
So it's lots of tiny little balls that are sort of molded together to protect those items.
You've got those beads as well and even the ones that you find in beanbags and there's just so many different types.
Yeah,
absolutely.
So they can't go in your recycling bin.
Um,
it's,
it has to undergo a separate recycling process,
(07:48):
but also it just breaks into millions of pieces at the recycling facility.
You get balls going everywhere.
It's just an absolute mess.
It's really light as well.
Um,
so as different pieces break up into different sizes,
it could just end up all over the place.
So,
polystyrene is a no go for the recycling bin in terms of plastics.
(08:10):
And I think it's best when it comes to polystyrene as well just to try and avoid it where possible because it is very hard.
There are specific facilities Australia Wide that does recycle it.
Um,
as far as I'm aware,
I'm not sure if there's any in Victoria,
let alone anywhere close to Kingston.
So the best thing to do is to try and avoid it where possible.
Um And then I guess actually,
(08:30):
while we're talking about polystyrene,
I might as well bring up the concept of the,
the triangles and the symbols because polystyrene is a really good example of the triangles and symbols when it comes to plastics.
Um A lot of people do look for these triangles and symbols and we're trying to get everyone to stop looking for that because those triangles and symbols are actually an industry specific specific code.
(08:52):
Um Did you want to explain more about number five?
And yeah,
so as as Frey just said,
it's an industry code,
it's to label the plastic type,
believe it or not,
there's more than one type of plastic and number five just happens to be one of those.
And so you can end up with products that are five such as a yogurt recycling tub or um what else have we got?
(09:21):
There's margarine tub takeaway containers,
those are often your type five plastic,
but then also some polystyrene products are a five as well.
So because polystyrene in the containers is what we call a rigid polystyrene and the packaging is an expanded form of polystyrene.
(09:42):
So I'm getting a bit scientific technical here,
but um it's essentially made from the same sort of type of plastic.
And so that's where it's really confusing like what Jules is trying to say because they've got number five on both products.
And so if you're looking for a number five,
it's gonna get very confusing.
Absolutely.
So,
don't look at that,
try and find the Australasian recycling label if it's on the product,
(10:05):
if it's not go to the council website,
if it's not do the Scrunch test,
there's a few other methods but that label is not as helpful as you think it is.
Yeah,
please,
please try.
And if,
if we learn one thing from all these podcasts is don't look for those triangles and numbers anymore.
Um Yeah.
Not,
not so good,
not very helpful.
No.
(10:26):
Alright.
So the next one,
Jules is again,
we're going back to this Tim Tam biscuit tray.
They are,
they a hard plastic because they're quite bendy and they are quite flexible.
So,
doesn't that mean that they're a flexible plastic?
Like what,
what's the story?
How do we,
how do we work that out?
Well,
I guess,
yeah,
I guess it is a bit of a tricky one but you know,
(10:47):
the tray itself,
it is molded whereas the wrapper itself is not,
it's not a,
you can't say it has this exact,
not that molded,
rigid shape.
It's sort of that flexible looser,
sort of.
Exactly.
Yeah,
it doesn't have a shape.
Yeah,
exactly.
It,
it will just work in Ben to protect that item.
(11:09):
But the tray is designed to hold those nice tasty,
beautiful biscuits,
chocolate covered biscuits.
It's,
it's molded to that.
So if it's a molded plastic,
it's generally going to be rigid and it has a shape that it's designed to be.
Yeah.
So it's ok.
Like if,
if a biscuit tray is slightly bendy and flexible,
that's ok.
(11:29):
But what we're really looking for is that sort of hard,
rigid molded shape versus the,
the frozen pea bag that doesn't have any molded shape like that.
So,
no,
that's cool.
And then the next topic of conversation that is very much a hot topic.
Uh,
in the waste industry is plastic lids.
So the lids off,
plastic milk bottles or plastic water bottles.
(11:52):
Are we lids on or are we lids off at such a confusing time?
Well,
I guess it depends.
So if you have the container and you have the lid,
just put it on and leave it on and put it in the recycling bin,
if you have the,
don't have a lid,
just chuck the bottle in,
but don't put them in the loop loose,
(12:12):
it's,
yeah,
we don't want those lids.
They're just too small to be recycled on their own and they can so easily fall off a conveyor belt too.
Like if you think about the,
the speed that the conveyor belts move and even the process of so the materials come in by a truck gets dumped on the floor and then gets scooped up by a loader onto the conveyor belt.
(12:33):
It might be very hard for one little plastic lid to actually get into that loader to then go onto the conveyor belt and then if it does make it that process,
it's gonna go on multiple conveyor belts where it could have a chance that it will fall off anyway.
So,
yeah,
definitely keep the lids on where you can.
Um And then yeah,
please don't leave them loose and separated because there is a lot of mixed messaging out there and it's just very confusing.
(12:55):
Yeah,
generally we,
we want the items to be whole.
Don't chop them up,
don't take the bits out,
just,
just put it in as you bought it.
Really?
Yeah.
My,
my one thing actually on that as well is if you are going to put a plastic bottle in the recycling bin,
make sure that it's empty.
So recycling that has liquids in it is heavy and it might get sorted as glass or cause contamination and issues.
(13:20):
So please make sure if you've got the lid on the item,
make sure the item is empty.
Um,
before it goes into the recycling bin can do.
Yeah,
cool.
And um,
what about the lids for kids?
Yeah.
So this is something maybe a little bit nerdy.
It's pretty cool.
I,
I,
I'm really into this and excited by this but yeah,
(13:42):
the,
the whole world of 3D printing with plastic is starting to open up and you can buy domestic 3D printers for really a few $100 and you can do all kinds of crazy things.
Um,
lids for kids is one of those sort of initiative,
um,
initiatives that came about in the past few years specifically for your plastic lids on milk bottles and soft drinks and things like that where people were able to donate them.
(14:10):
And this guy in Canberra was able to melt them down and palletize them,
make them into little,
yeah,
just the lids and was able to use a 3D printer to make prosthetic limbs for kids that have had amputations.
It's amazing.
I mean,
has so many great uses.
It does.
(14:30):
I mean,
don't get me wrong.
There's been terrible things that plastic has done to the planet,
but there's some seriously cool things that are happening with the world of 3D printing,
opening up more and just people being more creative about things that we can make from recycled plastic recycling and reusing it.
And again,
it's coming back to that whole thing about let's try and avoid putting this stuff into landfill and let's try and get creative and think how we can reuse these items.
(14:58):
So I have heard that the lids for kids at the moment and you might want to check their website for further updates because it might change between when we're recording this and when it goes live.
But um you know,
they've had that huge of support Australia Wide.
They were inundated with lids.
So that's fantastic to see that the Australian population is getting behind them.
(15:19):
So it's fantastic.
Um But I do know that they were having a,
a halt for a little bit just so they could catch up for a little bit.
But um I definitely recommend having a look on their website or social media and seeing um if and when they're accepting lids again,
if that's something that you're interested in partaking in as well.
I think there might also be some other companies as well that are taking leads and doing some other similar things like that as well.
(15:42):
So it's definitely a great example.
Speaking of kids,
what about toys,
toys in their plastics?
What about LEGO?
What about Barbie dolls?
What about racing toy cars?
Can we put them in the recycling bin?
I'm kind of thinking not.
Yeah,
we can't.
So the reason is that often these plastic toys are made from multiple types of plastic or they've been treated in different ways of a composite of,
(16:10):
yeah,
that it's not necessarily one plastic type.
Um It's,
yeah,
it can't be recycled for that reason.
It's not a,
you know,
a sole type of plastic where it can be easily recycled into the same type and things like that.
So yeah,
toys and such.
Unfortunately,
no,
go for the bins.
(16:30):
But if they're still in good condition,
donate them op shops are great.
Sell them online,
you know,
Gumtree Facebook marketplace,
give them away for free or contact a local school or kindergarten.
See if they want some,
you know,
toys to play with or,
or whatever it is that you've got.
Yeah.
I mean,
also these days a lot of toys are getting fancy.
(16:52):
There's electronics and all kinds of cool things.
So often you'll find they'll have screws that are metal or electronic bits that again becomes a composite item.
Again,
it's multiple material types in the one product.
So we can't recycle that.
It just doesn't get broken down through,
going through rumbles and conveyor belts and things like that.
We just can't recycle it that way.
(17:13):
Yeah,
best to keep them out and,
and I guess the same goes for,
as you mentioned,
e waste.
So e waste um can include kids toys because it's anything with a plug cord or battery and they often contain precious metals in it that we want to try and recover and recycle.
So you can drop off your e waste to any of the council's E waste,
drop off stations that we have um around the municipality and we can recycle them um as well to,
(17:37):
you know,
try and avoid them going into the yellow recycling bin and causing many issues.
So best to keep them out.
Another one that I'd like to say as well,
another reason why we can't put it in the recycling bin is that a lot of kids toys do have batteries and batteries are really well.
Uh a,
a common causes for what we call a hot load when a fire is sparked in the back of a truck um from a battery igniting.
(18:00):
So,
really important that we keep all of our batteries out of the recycling bin as well.
I guess then that sort of brings us more into talking about composite,
mostly plastic.
So again,
these are those items that are some,
you know,
partly plastic or they might have a bit of e waste in them or they might have clothing and things like that.
So I'm guessing like pens and like,
(18:21):
you know,
plastic pens,
even refillable plastic pens,
that'd be a composite.
So that'd be a no.
Yeah,
exactly.
I mean,
for your clicky ones,
they have a spring but the ball point for most of your pens is all metal.
So there's no way to take that tiny,
tiny little thing off the end.
It,
it just can't be recycled properly.
So that is an example of,
(18:42):
yeah,
a composite that's mostly plastic can't be recycled.
Things like a computer mouse will have small bits of E waste in there.
The,
the cable will have precious metals.
Again,
we can't strip that at a Murph.
It has to be specifically done at when you take it to a Council depot or uh other recycling facilities will accept that where a lot of that work is hand done.
(19:05):
It's hand taken apart and,
and stripped.
Um according to their specs.
So,
and,
and I guess the same as a,
as a razor would probably like a disposable razor would fall into that category as well.
Plastic handle,
metal blades all together can't pull that apart with the machinery.
So best to keep that one out.
Yeah,
that's cool.
(19:25):
And then I guess moving on,
talking a bit,
a bit more about plastics is a really common packaging item that we have is bubble wrap.
So wrap.
Ok.
Question for everyone.
Is that a hard plastic or a soft plastic?
I love to scratch it off.
Crack.
Crack.
Yeah,
bubble wrap is definitely a soft plastic.
(19:47):
So please keep any of your bubble wrap out of your recycling bin.
Um Again,
try and reuse it if you can.
I know a lot of people if you're moving.
Um it's often good to see them on the local um like the community hubs and things like that on Facebook,
giving away free bubble wrap and things.
Um because that means that yeah,
other people can use it.
Um Because otherwise it has to go to landfill or you can um take it to some sort of plastic recyclers as well.
(20:13):
Yeah,
I often keep my plastic wrap in case I want to sell something online.
I'll just keep a little bit in a box and I'll reuse that if I'm sending an item somewhere else in the country or overseas,
it it doesn't break down unfortunately,
unfortunately.
So it can be reused.
Think we gotta get clever about thinking about how we can reuse these items.
(20:36):
And that's a great one.
I often do the same thing going off on a tangent here.
But with ribbon,
you get some ribbon on packaging and things.
I've got a little box,
a stash of ribbon and things like that,
that you can wrap up for presents and things.
Right.
On that note,
laminated paper.
So I know laminated paper is really common in schools in kindergartens,
(20:56):
Um,
even in the workplace as well.
So laminated paper.
Does that mean that's also a composite,
mostly plastic or paper?
Hm.
Yeah,
it's definitely composite.
I mean,
it's plastic and paper together.
The weight is arguably in the plastic because it's quite thick,
but we can't pull that apart.
I mean,
you give it a go too hard.
(21:19):
No way.
I don't have the time for that.
Yeah.
So anything laminated,
it will have to go into the red bin.
So,
I guess the best thing to do there is to not to try and avoid laminating in the first place.
I mean,
if you have to avoid,
uh,
laminate something,
make sure it's something that can be used for many years or multiple times.
Um,
and then have to put it into your rubbish bin.
(21:40):
Um,
but again,
if you can try avoiding it in the first place,
that's the best thing.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
No,
that's good.
And I guess the same goes with the plastic pockets and plastic sheets and things like that just try and keep them clear.
Now,
this last topic that I wanted,
I wanted to bring up because um as some residents might know City of Kingston as part of their general waste education program each year conduct a random bin inspection where it's myself and my colleagues like Jules,
(22:09):
where we walk around and um look in everyone's recycling bins as a friendly reminder for everybody to do the right thing.
And you might get uh it might be your recycling bin,
it might be a green bin.
Um But residents will receive a happy face tag or,
or a sad face tag and,
and again,
it's no black mark against your name or anything.
It's just a friendly reminder for everyone to try and do the right thing.
(22:32):
Um And one of the things that we find all the time in the recycling bin and every recycling inspection that I do within Kingston is I always find an umbrella.
Yeah,
especially after a storm.
So can we put umbrellas in the recycling bin?
No,
no,
please keep them out.
And again,
umbrellas are one of those composite items.
(22:54):
It has metal,
it has plastic,
it has material,
it might have a wooden handle.
It,
yeah,
it's definitely broken.
It's very bendable.
It's,
yeah,
it basically has all the reasons why you can't put anything in the rec in the recycling bin because it has all those categories.
So please keep all of your umbrellas out.
Um it is a very common thing that we find.
(23:16):
But yeah,
umbrellas unfortunately cannot be recycled.
They have to.
Yeah.
Yes.
Best to chuck them in the rubbish bin if you can.
Cool.
So now we're gonna move on,
but just,
just quickly,
just to recap before we move on if you do have something and you're unsure if it is like a plastic material and you're unsure if it can be recycled.
(23:36):
Do the Scrunch test,
check the local um check the packaging for any um labels or guides and also jump online and check council's website.
So we have a very detailed list there of what can and can't go in the recycling bin when it comes to plastic.
So jaws now on to talking a bit about how it's sorted and separated.
So what's the deal?
(23:57):
How does plastic get sorted and separated?
We have the truck and Chuck picks up our recycling bin,
takes it to a Murph and what's the magic processes that happen?
Yeah.
So if you remember listening back to the first episode,
uh the place goes through the trumble and a few other conveyor belts and eventually it goes through a screening machine which is super cool.
(24:20):
It takes photos like hundreds of photos a second and identifies the plastic types and as it moves through these conveyor belts,
it has uh little jets of air that can push the plastics and separate them into their types so that they can then be sold to a factory as one type of plastic for a particular item that they make.
(24:42):
Um We've already said polystyrene is one of them,
but there are other types of plastics as well that have different properties and different uses for different products.
So they don't all behave the same.
So once they get bailed up and separated at the Murph into their different plastic types,
uh they'll again be loaded onto a truck as a nice big cube and then shipped off.
(25:06):
And what they'll,
the typical process of a plastic recycler will be then to shred that plastic and melt it down,
not burning it,
just gently melting that down,
slowly simmer it down.
Yeah,
that's it.
And then they turn it into little pellets or uh,
(25:26):
the technical term is nerd.
I like that.
And they're quite often the ones that you hear ending up at the beach or the waterways polluting local waterways because it's very easy.
They're so small to fall out of a bag and then rain will wash them down the street,
end up in our local storm water and end out,
end up at the beach,
which is what we don't want.
So you might often hear about these words,
(25:46):
Noles,
contaminating parklands or,
or beaches and things.
So they're just simply plastic pellets.
And once you've got it in pellet form,
you can be very precise about the weight.
You need to construct a plastic bottle or turn it into fibers for bags,
containers,
trays,
(26:08):
trays.
So yeah,
once it's in that tiny,
tiny pellet form,
it can become anything.
It's unfortunate that it needs to get that small because we do get some spillage and,
and stuff that ends up in the environment.
Hopefully there will be a better way as technology advances.
But at this point in time,
that's how it's done.
You know,
it's very interesting um how that recycling process all happens.
(26:31):
But I guess jumping back a a step with our plastics,
say,
for example,
our milk bottles and margarine containers before it gets recycled.
If they're in a plastic bag,
can they get recycled?
Like can they go through that process and end up as noodles or will they not get separated because they are in that plastic bag?
Yeah.
So plastic bags.
(26:52):
No,
go keep them loose,
keep them loose.
If you bought it loose,
spin it loose.
Those items in plastic bags will be picked off by those workers at the Murph.
They'll just toss them into a bin and it will go straight to landfill again.
It's a safety hazard.
They can't open up those bags because they don't know what's in them.
There could be anything.
(27:13):
Yeah.
So,
so we followed the journey.
So we've got those margarine tubs and those biscuit trays and yogurt tubs and um milk bottles and all those things that they've gone through and they've been sorted and now they've been recycled and turned into pellets.
And so now they're gonna turn into lots of different things.
So,
so for example,
Kingston,
your wheelie bins um are made from recycled plastics.
(27:35):
They're generally uh from a milk bottle.
Um So to speak,
generally,
that type of plastic might have a few more additives in it for coloring and things like that.
But it's generally made from a plastic milk bottle.
Um except for the wheels,
the wheels are rubber,
but everything else on your recycling bin is um is actually made from plastics.
The same as if you have compost bins,
worm farms.
(27:55):
Most of them are actually um made um by recycled plastics.
If you jump on a website called Compost Revolution,
you can buy discounted compost bins and worm farms and a fun little fact.
Um they are actually designed and made within Kingston as well.
So the particular brand on that website.
So that's fantastic to see.
So that's a good way of recycling and reusing um local Kingston materials,
(28:18):
which is really good to see.
Yeah,
that's awesome.
Um Yeah,
and I'm guessing on,
on that there's so many other things.
For example,
the kitchen caddies,
they're made from recycled content,
clothing.
I'm guessing there's so many things that you've probably used today,
even your toothbrush may have been made from recycled content um to the chair you're sitting on to whatever you're gonna,
(28:39):
you know,
if you got plastic cups and things like that at home,
it's probably all got some sort of recycled content in it.
So,
yeah,
cool.
Well,
I think that wraps up everything all about our plastic topic today.
So thanks everyone for listening to the trash talk podcast on plastics.
Our next podcast that we're gonna be talking about is all about our metals.
(29:01):
So our steel and aluminum and our glass,
so stay tuned for that one.
And thanks again for talking rubbish with us.
Welcome to trash talk,
the world's trashiest podcast where we sort through your waste and recycling.
Hello,
everyone and welcome again to the Trash Talk podcast.
(00:26):
I'm Freya Council's Waste Education Officer for the city of Kingston and here with me is my colleague,
Jules.
Hello.
And today we're talking all things trash.
So today's topic or for this episode is so plastic.
Fantastic.
Is it?
So let's jump straight in.
(00:46):
So Jules,
what type of plastic can we recycle?
Alright.
So what we're really after is rigid plastics that come from your household packaging.
So things like uh detergents or ice cream containers,
peanut butter jars,
uh Tim Tam trays,
not the wrapper.
(01:07):
Oh man,
there's so many things made of plastic.
It's quite overwhelming.
We do live in a world of plastic.
We've got it everywhere from the bathroom to the kitchen,
to the laundry in the fridge,
in the pantry.
It it's everywhere even under the sink.
Yeah,
everything is covered in plastic.
But yeah,
I guess when it comes down to it,
what we want to chat about today is how can we work out what type of plastic can be recycled?
(01:31):
Um And,
and how you can work it out at home.
So some tips around that.
So guess what you're saying is any sort of hard,
rigid sort of packaging,
household packaging item that you've purchased say from,
from the supermarket is a really good one.
that,
that can be recycled.
So one of the key things that we like to do to work out the differences between the plastics because there is many different types out there.
(01:54):
It's called the Scrunch test.
Now,
the Scrunch test when we go into schools and do our waste education program with schools,
we get the kids to stand up in front.
Um and we get them to hold,
say for example,
a bread bag and someone gets to hold a plastic bottle.
And what you have to do with the Scrunch test is to work out which one can be recycled is to scrunch your plastic up into a tiny little ball.
(02:18):
And if the item can be scrunched up into the ball,
it means it's a soft plastic.
And where does our soft plastics go?
Which bin bin?
Yeah.
So all of our soft plastics um are not able to be recycled.
And one of the reasons why is because they are so flexible and bendy,
(02:40):
they can very easily get stuck in the machinery.
Um So it's best to please keep them out.
If they do get stuck in the machinery at the recycling factory,
they can cause um stoppages and we have to shut,
you know,
the whole parts of the facility down.
Sometimes it can also cause fires and things like that if it heats up and there's a lot of friction involved.
So please keep any of your soft scrunch plastic out of the recycling bin.
(03:05):
Um You can drop it off at your local Coles or Woolworths supermarkets.
And that soft plastic is actually taken locally to a company called Repla in Karim Downs.
So Kingston,
so that soft plastics for Kingston goes,
goes there to repla and replays do all sorts of exciting things with their soft plastic so they can turn it into um tables and chairs you may have seen at local parks and gardens,
(03:29):
bollards,
imitation sort of decking.
It's quite handy.
You don't have to actually oil your,
your decking.
You just get some of this,
which is quite easy.
So,
yeah,
soft plastics are a really good way to um recycle,
but just not in your yellow lidded recycling bin at home.
And I guess going back to that scrunch test.
So if your plastic is soft,
(03:49):
it's a soft plastic.
What about those hard rigid containers?
So,
anything that's that molded,
hard shape like Jules was just saying before,
like an ice-cream container or a plastic water bottle.
Um If you can't scrunch it up into the ball of your hand,
it means it's a hard plastic and it can be recycled.
So that's a one easy step to work out.
If your plastic can be recycled or not something else that might um help be helpful as well.
(04:14):
Is to look for the these new logos um that Jules was talking about in episode one,
if you wanted to elaborate some more about these A RL logos from Planet A Yeah.
So the Australasian recycling label is a initiative by Planet Ark to help everyone just know what to recycle because as we said,
we live in a world of plastic.
(04:36):
There's so many different items out there.
So you'll generally find it on the back of a product near the ingredients or the nutritional information and it will have a breakdown of the different items involved in that product.
So as we talked about in episode one,
the Tas an Australian Institution,
(04:57):
there's the tray which they all nest in nicely and there's the wrapper that's the outside.
So the tray is a rigid plastic.
If you scrunch that thing up,
it's just gonna bounce back to shape more or less.
But the uh the wrapper itself can be scrunched up into a ball.
It's that softer plastic.
(05:19):
So it'll tell you on the back,
put the wrapper in the bin or to take it.
Uh elsewhere,
it might say,
which is those soft plastic recycling bins you find at many supermarkets and the tray itself will say,
put in the recycling bin,
it's really handy.
It'll keep rolling out across more products over time.
(05:39):
So they're not on every product just yet.
No,
not every product,
it's particularly hard with like imported products um,
from different countries.
So,
unfortunately,
I don't know what their solution is with that at the moment,
but the ones that are locally produced here or major brands are slowly coming on board to that and having that printed on the labels to be helpful to everyone.
(06:02):
And the last thing,
um if you are confused and you're unsure about where your soft plastics go.
So,
so there's three simple steps that I recommend.
The first one is trying the Scrunch test and if you're unsure,
then have a look and see if you can find this new logo.
And then the last option would be um to check Council's website.
So we have a fantastic website called the A to Z Guide of Waste and Recycling um on Kingston's website and it has lots of different things on there and I've gone into quite specific items as well.
(06:35):
So please feel free to jump on there and have a look and see if your item is on there.
And likewise,
if you're unsure uh at the top is a,
a link that says can't find something or unsure,
send us an email and that email will come to myself and I'll be able to sort it out for you and then update our list as well.
So there's three simple little quick steps that you can do to try and make sure that we're recycling correctly.
(07:00):
So we also have a few other common questions that were asked by residents.
So,
Jules,
what's the story with Polo Styrene?
Yeah.
So,
polystyrene is plastic.
There's no doubt about that,
but it's called,
well,
there's actually different types of polystyrene.
So you might see some meat trays that are still polysar.
But then you've got polystyrene that comes with electronics like a TV or a computer or other things like that that are expanded.
(07:27):
Polystyrene.
So it's lots of tiny little balls that are sort of molded together to protect those items.
You've got those beads as well and even the ones that you find in beanbags and there's just so many different types.
Yeah,
absolutely.
So they can't go in your recycling bin.
Um,
it's,
it has to undergo a separate recycling process,
(07:48):
but also it just breaks into millions of pieces at the recycling facility.
You get balls going everywhere.
It's just an absolute mess.
It's really light as well.
Um,
so as different pieces break up into different sizes,
it could just end up all over the place.
So,
polystyrene is a no go for the recycling bin in terms of plastics.
(08:10):
And I think it's best when it comes to polystyrene as well just to try and avoid it where possible because it is very hard.
There are specific facilities Australia Wide that does recycle it.
Um,
as far as I'm aware,
I'm not sure if there's any in Victoria,
let alone anywhere close to Kingston.
So the best thing to do is to try and avoid it where possible.
Um And then I guess actually,
(08:30):
while we're talking about polystyrene,
I might as well bring up the concept of the,
the triangles and the symbols because polystyrene is a really good example of the triangles and symbols when it comes to plastics.
Um A lot of people do look for these triangles and symbols and we're trying to get everyone to stop looking for that because those triangles and symbols are actually an industry specific specific code.
(08:52):
Um Did you want to explain more about number five?
And yeah,
so as as Frey just said,
it's an industry code,
it's to label the plastic type,
believe it or not,
there's more than one type of plastic and number five just happens to be one of those.
And so you can end up with products that are five such as a yogurt recycling tub or um what else have we got?
(09:21):
There's margarine tub takeaway containers,
those are often your type five plastic,
but then also some polystyrene products are a five as well.
So because polystyrene in the containers is what we call a rigid polystyrene and the packaging is an expanded form of polystyrene.
(09:42):
So I'm getting a bit scientific technical here,
but um it's essentially made from the same sort of type of plastic.
And so that's where it's really confusing like what Jules is trying to say because they've got number five on both products.
And so if you're looking for a number five,
it's gonna get very confusing.
Absolutely.
So,
don't look at that,
try and find the Australasian recycling label if it's on the product,
(10:05):
if it's not go to the council website,
if it's not do the Scrunch test,
there's a few other methods but that label is not as helpful as you think it is.
Yeah,
please,
please try.
And if,
if we learn one thing from all these podcasts is don't look for those triangles and numbers anymore.
Um Yeah.
Not,
not so good,
not very helpful.
No.
(10:26):
Alright.
So the next one,
Jules is again,
we're going back to this Tim Tam biscuit tray.
They are,
they a hard plastic because they're quite bendy and they are quite flexible.
So,
doesn't that mean that they're a flexible plastic?
Like what,
what's the story?
How do we,
how do we work that out?
Well,
I guess,
yeah,
I guess it is a bit of a tricky one but you know,
(10:47):
the tray itself,
it is molded whereas the wrapper itself is not,
it's not a,
you can't say it has this exact,
not that molded,
rigid shape.
It's sort of that flexible looser,
sort of.
Exactly.
Yeah,
it doesn't have a shape.
Yeah,
exactly.
It,
it will just work in Ben to protect that item.
(11:09):
But the tray is designed to hold those nice tasty,
beautiful biscuits,
chocolate covered biscuits.
It's,
it's molded to that.
So if it's a molded plastic,
it's generally going to be rigid and it has a shape that it's designed to be.
Yeah.
So it's ok.
Like if,
if a biscuit tray is slightly bendy and flexible,
that's ok.
(11:29):
But what we're really looking for is that sort of hard,
rigid molded shape versus the,
the frozen pea bag that doesn't have any molded shape like that.
So,
no,
that's cool.
And then the next topic of conversation that is very much a hot topic.
Uh,
in the waste industry is plastic lids.
So the lids off,
plastic milk bottles or plastic water bottles.
(11:52):
Are we lids on or are we lids off at such a confusing time?
Well,
I guess it depends.
So if you have the container and you have the lid,
just put it on and leave it on and put it in the recycling bin,
if you have the,
don't have a lid,
just chuck the bottle in,
but don't put them in the loop loose,
(12:12):
it's,
yeah,
we don't want those lids.
They're just too small to be recycled on their own and they can so easily fall off a conveyor belt too.
Like if you think about the,
the speed that the conveyor belts move and even the process of so the materials come in by a truck gets dumped on the floor and then gets scooped up by a loader onto the conveyor belt.
(12:33):
It might be very hard for one little plastic lid to actually get into that loader to then go onto the conveyor belt and then if it does make it that process,
it's gonna go on multiple conveyor belts where it could have a chance that it will fall off anyway.
So,
yeah,
definitely keep the lids on where you can.
Um And then yeah,
please don't leave them loose and separated because there is a lot of mixed messaging out there and it's just very confusing.
(12:55):
Yeah,
generally we,
we want the items to be whole.
Don't chop them up,
don't take the bits out,
just,
just put it in as you bought it.
Really?
Yeah.
My,
my one thing actually on that as well is if you are going to put a plastic bottle in the recycling bin,
make sure that it's empty.
So recycling that has liquids in it is heavy and it might get sorted as glass or cause contamination and issues.
(13:20):
So please make sure if you've got the lid on the item,
make sure the item is empty.
Um,
before it goes into the recycling bin can do.
Yeah,
cool.
And um,
what about the lids for kids?
Yeah.
So this is something maybe a little bit nerdy.
It's pretty cool.
I,
I,
I'm really into this and excited by this but yeah,
(13:42):
the,
the whole world of 3D printing with plastic is starting to open up and you can buy domestic 3D printers for really a few $100 and you can do all kinds of crazy things.
Um,
lids for kids is one of those sort of initiative,
um,
initiatives that came about in the past few years specifically for your plastic lids on milk bottles and soft drinks and things like that where people were able to donate them.
(14:10):
And this guy in Canberra was able to melt them down and palletize them,
make them into little,
yeah,
just the lids and was able to use a 3D printer to make prosthetic limbs for kids that have had amputations.
It's amazing.
I mean,
has so many great uses.
It does.
(14:30):
I mean,
don't get me wrong.
There's been terrible things that plastic has done to the planet,
but there's some seriously cool things that are happening with the world of 3D printing,
opening up more and just people being more creative about things that we can make from recycled plastic recycling and reusing it.
And again,
it's coming back to that whole thing about let's try and avoid putting this stuff into landfill and let's try and get creative and think how we can reuse these items.
(14:58):
So I have heard that the lids for kids at the moment and you might want to check their website for further updates because it might change between when we're recording this and when it goes live.
But um you know,
they've had that huge of support Australia Wide.
They were inundated with lids.
So that's fantastic to see that the Australian population is getting behind them.
(15:19):
So it's fantastic.
Um But I do know that they were having a,
a halt for a little bit just so they could catch up for a little bit.
But um I definitely recommend having a look on their website or social media and seeing um if and when they're accepting lids again,
if that's something that you're interested in partaking in as well.
I think there might also be some other companies as well that are taking leads and doing some other similar things like that as well.
(15:42):
So it's definitely a great example.
Speaking of kids,
what about toys,
toys in their plastics?
What about LEGO?
What about Barbie dolls?
What about racing toy cars?
Can we put them in the recycling bin?
I'm kind of thinking not.
Yeah,
we can't.
So the reason is that often these plastic toys are made from multiple types of plastic or they've been treated in different ways of a composite of,
(16:10):
yeah,
that it's not necessarily one plastic type.
Um It's,
yeah,
it can't be recycled for that reason.
It's not a,
you know,
a sole type of plastic where it can be easily recycled into the same type and things like that.
So yeah,
toys and such.
Unfortunately,
no,
go for the bins.
(16:30):
But if they're still in good condition,
donate them op shops are great.
Sell them online,
you know,
Gumtree Facebook marketplace,
give them away for free or contact a local school or kindergarten.
See if they want some,
you know,
toys to play with or,
or whatever it is that you've got.
Yeah.
I mean,
also these days a lot of toys are getting fancy.
(16:52):
There's electronics and all kinds of cool things.
So often you'll find they'll have screws that are metal or electronic bits that again becomes a composite item.
Again,
it's multiple material types in the one product.
So we can't recycle that.
It just doesn't get broken down through,
going through rumbles and conveyor belts and things like that.
We just can't recycle it that way.
(17:13):
Yeah,
best to keep them out and,
and I guess the same goes for,
as you mentioned,
e waste.
So e waste um can include kids toys because it's anything with a plug cord or battery and they often contain precious metals in it that we want to try and recover and recycle.
So you can drop off your e waste to any of the council's E waste,
drop off stations that we have um around the municipality and we can recycle them um as well to,
(17:37):
you know,
try and avoid them going into the yellow recycling bin and causing many issues.
So best to keep them out.
Another one that I'd like to say as well,
another reason why we can't put it in the recycling bin is that a lot of kids toys do have batteries and batteries are really well.
Uh a,
a common causes for what we call a hot load when a fire is sparked in the back of a truck um from a battery igniting.
(18:00):
So,
really important that we keep all of our batteries out of the recycling bin as well.
I guess then that sort of brings us more into talking about composite,
mostly plastic.
So again,
these are those items that are some,
you know,
partly plastic or they might have a bit of e waste in them or they might have clothing and things like that.
So I'm guessing like pens and like,
(18:21):
you know,
plastic pens,
even refillable plastic pens,
that'd be a composite.
So that'd be a no.
Yeah,
exactly.
I mean,
for your clicky ones,
they have a spring but the ball point for most of your pens is all metal.
So there's no way to take that tiny,
tiny little thing off the end.
It,
it just can't be recycled properly.
So that is an example of,
(18:42):
yeah,
a composite that's mostly plastic can't be recycled.
Things like a computer mouse will have small bits of E waste in there.
The,
the cable will have precious metals.
Again,
we can't strip that at a Murph.
It has to be specifically done at when you take it to a Council depot or uh other recycling facilities will accept that where a lot of that work is hand done.
(19:05):
It's hand taken apart and,
and stripped.
Um according to their specs.
So,
and,
and I guess the same as a,
as a razor would probably like a disposable razor would fall into that category as well.
Plastic handle,
metal blades all together can't pull that apart with the machinery.
So best to keep that one out.
Yeah,
that's cool.
(19:25):
And then I guess moving on,
talking a bit,
a bit more about plastics is a really common packaging item that we have is bubble wrap.
So wrap.
Ok.
Question for everyone.
Is that a hard plastic or a soft plastic?
I love to scratch it off.
Crack.
Crack.
Yeah,
bubble wrap is definitely a soft plastic.
(19:47):
So please keep any of your bubble wrap out of your recycling bin.
Um Again,
try and reuse it if you can.
I know a lot of people if you're moving.
Um it's often good to see them on the local um like the community hubs and things like that on Facebook,
giving away free bubble wrap and things.
Um because that means that yeah,
other people can use it.
Um Because otherwise it has to go to landfill or you can um take it to some sort of plastic recyclers as well.
(20:13):
Yeah,
I often keep my plastic wrap in case I want to sell something online.
I'll just keep a little bit in a box and I'll reuse that if I'm sending an item somewhere else in the country or overseas,
it it doesn't break down unfortunately,
unfortunately.
So it can be reused.
Think we gotta get clever about thinking about how we can reuse these items.
(20:36):
And that's a great one.
I often do the same thing going off on a tangent here.
But with ribbon,
you get some ribbon on packaging and things.
I've got a little box,
a stash of ribbon and things like that,
that you can wrap up for presents and things.
Right.
On that note,
laminated paper.
So I know laminated paper is really common in schools in kindergartens,
(20:56):
Um,
even in the workplace as well.
So laminated paper.
Does that mean that's also a composite,
mostly plastic or paper?
Hm.
Yeah,
it's definitely composite.
I mean,
it's plastic and paper together.
The weight is arguably in the plastic because it's quite thick,
but we can't pull that apart.
I mean,
you give it a go too hard.
(21:19):
No way.
I don't have the time for that.
Yeah.
So anything laminated,
it will have to go into the red bin.
So,
I guess the best thing to do there is to not to try and avoid laminating in the first place.
I mean,
if you have to avoid,
uh,
laminate something,
make sure it's something that can be used for many years or multiple times.
Um,
and then have to put it into your rubbish bin.
(21:40):
Um,
but again,
if you can try avoiding it in the first place,
that's the best thing.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
No,
that's good.
And I guess the same goes with the plastic pockets and plastic sheets and things like that just try and keep them clear.
Now,
this last topic that I wanted,
I wanted to bring up because um as some residents might know City of Kingston as part of their general waste education program each year conduct a random bin inspection where it's myself and my colleagues like Jules,
(22:09):
where we walk around and um look in everyone's recycling bins as a friendly reminder for everybody to do the right thing.
And you might get uh it might be your recycling bin,
it might be a green bin.
Um But residents will receive a happy face tag or,
or a sad face tag and,
and again,
it's no black mark against your name or anything.
It's just a friendly reminder for everyone to try and do the right thing.
(22:32):
Um And one of the things that we find all the time in the recycling bin and every recycling inspection that I do within Kingston is I always find an umbrella.
Yeah,
especially after a storm.
So can we put umbrellas in the recycling bin?
No,
no,
please keep them out.
And again,
umbrellas are one of those composite items.
(22:54):
It has metal,
it has plastic,
it has material,
it might have a wooden handle.
It,
yeah,
it's definitely broken.
It's very bendable.
It's,
yeah,
it basically has all the reasons why you can't put anything in the rec in the recycling bin because it has all those categories.
So please keep all of your umbrellas out.
Um it is a very common thing that we find.
(23:16):
But yeah,
umbrellas unfortunately cannot be recycled.
They have to.
Yeah.
Yes.
Best to chuck them in the rubbish bin if you can.
Cool.
So now we're gonna move on,
but just,
just quickly,
just to recap before we move on if you do have something and you're unsure if it is like a plastic material and you're unsure if it can be recycled.
(23:36):
Do the Scrunch test,
check the local um check the packaging for any um labels or guides and also jump online and check council's website.
So we have a very detailed list there of what can and can't go in the recycling bin when it comes to plastic.
So jaws now on to talking a bit about how it's sorted and separated.
So what's the deal?
(23:57):
How does plastic get sorted and separated?
We have the truck and Chuck picks up our recycling bin,
takes it to a Murph and what's the magic processes that happen?
Yeah.
So if you remember listening back to the first episode,
uh the place goes through the trumble and a few other conveyor belts and eventually it goes through a screening machine which is super cool.
(24:20):
It takes photos like hundreds of photos a second and identifies the plastic types and as it moves through these conveyor belts,
it has uh little jets of air that can push the plastics and separate them into their types so that they can then be sold to a factory as one type of plastic for a particular item that they make.
(24:42):
Um We've already said polystyrene is one of them,
but there are other types of plastics as well that have different properties and different uses for different products.
So they don't all behave the same.
So once they get bailed up and separated at the Murph into their different plastic types,
uh they'll again be loaded onto a truck as a nice big cube and then shipped off.
(25:06):
And what they'll,
the typical process of a plastic recycler will be then to shred that plastic and melt it down,
not burning it,
just gently melting that down,
slowly simmer it down.
Yeah,
that's it.
And then they turn it into little pellets or uh,
(25:26):
the technical term is nerd.
I like that.
And they're quite often the ones that you hear ending up at the beach or the waterways polluting local waterways because it's very easy.
They're so small to fall out of a bag and then rain will wash them down the street,
end up in our local storm water and end out,
end up at the beach,
which is what we don't want.
So you might often hear about these words,
(25:46):
Noles,
contaminating parklands or,
or beaches and things.
So they're just simply plastic pellets.
And once you've got it in pellet form,
you can be very precise about the weight.
You need to construct a plastic bottle or turn it into fibers for bags,
containers,
trays,
(26:08):
trays.
So yeah,
once it's in that tiny,
tiny pellet form,
it can become anything.
It's unfortunate that it needs to get that small because we do get some spillage and,
and stuff that ends up in the environment.
Hopefully there will be a better way as technology advances.
But at this point in time,
that's how it's done.
You know,
it's very interesting um how that recycling process all happens.
(26:31):
But I guess jumping back a a step with our plastics,
say,
for example,
our milk bottles and margarine containers before it gets recycled.
If they're in a plastic bag,
can they get recycled?
Like can they go through that process and end up as noodles or will they not get separated because they are in that plastic bag?
Yeah.
So plastic bags.
(26:52):
No,
go keep them loose,
keep them loose.
If you bought it loose,
spin it loose.
Those items in plastic bags will be picked off by those workers at the Murph.
They'll just toss them into a bin and it will go straight to landfill again.
It's a safety hazard.
They can't open up those bags because they don't know what's in them.
There could be anything.
(27:13):
Yeah.
So,
so we followed the journey.
So we've got those margarine tubs and those biscuit trays and yogurt tubs and um milk bottles and all those things that they've gone through and they've been sorted and now they've been recycled and turned into pellets.
And so now they're gonna turn into lots of different things.
So,
so for example,
Kingston,
your wheelie bins um are made from recycled plastics.
(27:35):
They're generally uh from a milk bottle.
Um So to speak,
generally,
that type of plastic might have a few more additives in it for coloring and things like that.
But it's generally made from a plastic milk bottle.
Um except for the wheels,
the wheels are rubber,
but everything else on your recycling bin is um is actually made from plastics.
The same as if you have compost bins,
worm farms.
(27:55):
Most of them are actually um made um by recycled plastics.
If you jump on a website called Compost Revolution,
you can buy discounted compost bins and worm farms and a fun little fact.
Um they are actually designed and made within Kingston as well.
So the particular brand on that website.
So that's fantastic to see.
So that's a good way of recycling and reusing um local Kingston materials,
(28:18):
which is really good to see.
Yeah,
that's awesome.
Um Yeah,
and I'm guessing on,
on that there's so many other things.
For example,
the kitchen caddies,
they're made from recycled content,
clothing.
I'm guessing there's so many things that you've probably used today,
even your toothbrush may have been made from recycled content um to the chair you're sitting on to whatever you're gonna,
(28:39):
you know,
if you got plastic cups and things like that at home,
it's probably all got some sort of recycled content in it.
So,
yeah,
cool.
Well,
I think that wraps up everything all about our plastic topic today.
So thanks everyone for listening to the trash talk podcast on plastics.
Our next podcast that we're gonna be talking about is all about our metals.
(29:01):
So our steel and aluminum and our glass,
so stay tuned for that one.
And thanks again for talking rubbish with us.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!