Bega Valley Shire Council’s landfill and transfer station coordinator Dave Screen with the mobile Community Recycling Centre. Photo: Supplied.
The mobile Bega Valley Community Recycling Centre (CRC) will begin its free disposal service for small hazardous household items on Tuesday, 1 December, at the Bermagui Waste and Recycling Depot.
Bega Valley Shire Council’s waste strategy coordinator, Joley Vidau, said the repurposed former horse float will enable people to dispose of small hazardous items that can’t go in kerbside bins.
“It’s pretty common for people to build stocks of things such as old batteries and paint at home because they don’t know how to responsibly dispose of them,” said Ms Vidau.
“When we pull up at a place near you, bring along your old batteries, paint, gas bottles, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, cooking oils and fluorescent globes and tubes, and we’ll do the rest.
“When the trailer is full of problem waste, we take it to the main Community Recycling Centre in Merimbula for sorting and processing.
“We often get asked what happens to this waste once it arrives at the centre, and the answer lies in a problem becoming a commodity through clever reuse and recycling.
“Paints, for example, are mixed with other waste solvents and used as an alternative fuel in cement kilns. Car batteries provide recyclable plastic, lead and acid for use in other industries, and used gas bottles are either restored or recycled as scrap metal.”
Ms Vidau said the Black Summer bushfires and COVID-19 restrictions had kept the mobile CRC off the road this past year, but improvements to the trailer have been made during this time.
“We took the opportunity to further improve the way the mobile unit was set up by including separate storage units for each item, making it easier for people to drop off problem waste,” she said.
“If you have problem waste you need to dispose of but can’t wait for the mobile CRC, the drop-off centre at the Merimbula Waste Transfer Station is open during normal hours.
“As always, be careful transporting these goods because some of them can be dangerous if handled incorrectly.”
To keep track of where the mobile CRC is, check the Bega Valley Waste app and the Bega Valley Waste and Recycling Facebook page.
Bega Valley Shire Council’s CRC is funded in partnership with the NSW Environment Protection Authority from the waste levy as part of the Waste Less, Recycle More program.
There are more than 90 CRCs in NSW.
For further information, download the free Bega Valley Waste app or check the Bega Valley Shire Council website.
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