Charity Addresses Clothing Bin Waste
8 November 2004 at 12:11 pm
Hard waste dumped around charity clothing bins is an ongoing problem for charities around the country and now the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL) and FM Recycling are doing something about it.
According to Ian McHutchison, the BSL General Manager of Social Enterprises in the past year his organisation has collected over 1,000 tonnes of hard waste from around our charity bins in Melbourne alone.
McHutchinson says while they are always grateful for donations to help fund their programs and services, it costs around half a million dollars each year to pick up dumped and unusable goods and take it to landfill.
He says this is unacceptable and they are now diverting some of this waste to be recycled through FM Recycling.
Chris Todorovski, the Director of FM Recycling says the Charity Waste Recovery Centre will divert over 5,000 tonnes of waste from landfill over the next three years.
The aim is to recover 70 per cent as recyclable or reusable materials and only the remaining 30 per cent will be sent to landfill.
FM Recycling currently collect, sort and distribute goods donated through 1,200 charity bins across Melbourne on behalf of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Open Family and the Australian Red Cross.
The Charity Waste Recovery Centre was developed in partnership with EcoRecycle Victoria, Smorgon Steel Recycling, The Pratt Foundation and Visy Recycling as part of the Victorian Government’s Towards Zero Waste strategy.
The partners have provided financing, resources and support to the BSL and FM.
Smorgon Steel Recycling will receive all the mixed steel and aluminium collected at the centre and Visy Recycling will handle the books, paper and cardboard. A range of other materials including tyres, plastics, mattresses, car batteries and foam will also be recycled by specialist companies.
Peter Morrison from Smorgon Steel Recycling says the partnership underlines the Smorgon Steel Group’s commitment to the environment and at the same time it allows it to support the community through the Waste Recovery Centre.
Nick Harford from Visy Recycling says the Brotherhood of St Laurence and FM have developed a great centre that ensures economic, environmental and social sustainability. Visy is pleased to be part of this program and support such a great initiative.
Ian Coles, Chief Executive of EcoRecycle Victoria officially opened the centre.
