Waste officers ‘really pleased’ with level of contamination in first recycling collection

Cameras and GPS systems fitted to recycling collection trucks will allow council workers to pinpoint the origin of contamination as Port Hedland collections occur. Last week was the first time recycling bins were collected after being installed at residences around Hedland. Waste technical officer Margaret Macindoe said contamination levels had been better than expected. “I was really, really pleased with the loads that have come in,” she said. “We expect that there is a lot of people who haven’t recycled before so we expect that people won’t know how to recycle. “So we expect there to be some contamination in there but it is not as bad as expected.” Waste operations manager Rebecca Walter said the data gained from the cameras on the trucks and GPS would help them target education campaigns. She said most people were not deliberately contaminating recycling, they just did not know what could and could not go in the bin. Each recycling truck is fitted with six cameras, including one inside the hopper, which allows Cleanaway and the council to examine the contents of each bin before it goes into the truck. Ms Walker said some of the most common contaminants found were recyclables tied up in bags, polystyrene and plastic bags. Bagged recyclables end up in the rubbish pile because it is too dangerous for workers at the facility to open the bag and sort through the material. Ms Walker said the community was clearly embracing recycling — there was just some work to do on education. She said a complete list of recyclable materials would be published on the council’s website in the coming weeks.