Recycle right today for a better tomorrow
Published on 08 November 2021
It’s National Recycling Week and here at the Shire we are focusing on how we can encourage our community to get even better at recycling.
We understand recycling can be a tad confusing, especially seeing as each Council area is a little bit different. We are determined to dispel some recycling myths once and for all.
So, let’s get to it. Commonly misplaced items in bins across the Shire include:
- Plastic bags – soft plastics can only be recycled through Red Cycle at major supermarkets. Don’t put your recyclables in plastic bags! Empty your recyclables loose into your recycling bin.
- Polystyrene – unfortunately this can’t be recycled.
- Food waste – eeek! This does not belong in your recycling bin, but you can pop leftovers and scraps in your garden waste bin along with weeds, shrubs and other garden waste.
- Clothes – donate to your local op shop, drop it in our recycling trailer or as a last resort, pop it in the rubbish bin
- Plastic bottle tops – free your bottles from their plastic lids before placing the bottle in the recycling and the plastic lid in the rubbish bin. Or better yet take the plastic lids to the Mornington Resource Recovery Centre where they can be recycled. Metal bottle tops can go in the recycling bin, just pop them in a metal container first!
Did you know there are a number of items you can recycle for free at our Resource Recovery Centres? These include:
- excess household recycling
- e-waste, tvs, printers and computers
- small electrical items such as kettles and microwaves
- scrap metal and steel goods including dish washers and clothes dryers
- bikes
- gas cylinders (up to 9kg)
- paint (up to 100L)
- motor oil (up to 20L)
- fluorescent light globes and tubes (domestic quantities)
- batteries (car, household and mobile phone)
- cardboard
- plant pots
- x-rays (Mornington only)
- plastic bottle tops (Mornington only).
We’ve made a handy recycling and waste guide you can print out and stick on the fridge. Go to mornpen.vic.gov.au/recycling to download yours today!
Do you have any questions about recycling? We are here to help! Ask us on Facebook, or email us at waste@mornpen.vic.gov.au
Quote attributable to Mayor Councillor Despi O’Connor:
“When a non-recyclable item is placed in a recycling bin, the bin is contaminated. This not only comes at a huge cost to the environment adding to landfill, but also comes at a cost for the Shire and ratepayers. Contaminated bins cost the Mornington Peninsula Shire and ratepayers approximately $600,000 per year.
“Let’s all take recycling seriously so we can drive this number down and spend the money on other worthy projects.”