5 November
2006 - A national recycling hotline and website
covering all 672 local government areas across
the country was launched today by the Australian
Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator
Ian Campbell, and Planet Ark Founder Jon Dee.
The service will give householders
and businesses complete information about what
and where they can recycle in their local areas.
In addition to basic recyclables like newspapers
and aluminium cans, the site also tells people
where they can recycle other things such as computers,
oil, car tyres, fridges, mobile phones, car batteries,
printer cartridges, phone books and paint cans.
It also tells people how to give away things for
free.
“This is the most detailed,
comprehensive and user-friendly service yet developed
for recycling in Australia,” Senator Campbell
said at the launch in Perth to mark National Recycling
Week. “It is a genuine one-stop service so everyone
can do the right thing by the environment.
“Australia has excellent recycling
rates for some products – it is 74 per cent for
newspapers, the best in the world - but for others
there is need for improvement. Research by Roy
Morgan shows that 48 per cent of Australians are
confused about what they can and cannot recycle.
The hotline and website are designed to clear
up that confusion.”
Senator Campbell said the Australian
Government had invested $300,000 in the hotline
arm of the service, which will be operated by
Planet Ark and co-sponsored by Sensis.
Jon Dee said: “Too much recyclable
waste is ending up in our landfills because people
are confused about recycling. The National Recycling
Hotline and the RecyclingNearYou web site will
make it easier for Australians to recycle everything
that they can in their local community.”.
“To find out what and where
to recycle in your local area, all you have to
do is phone the hotline on 1300 733 712. If you
have internet access, just enter your postcode
or suburb at RecyclingNearYou.com.au and you will
get all of the information you need.”
Mr Dee said Planet Ark and Sensis
had formed a partnership to develop the new website
which contains details for recycling and safe
waste disposal in all council areas around Australia.
Searchable by postcode, the new site is also supported
by Yellow® Online content to allow users to
find local businesses that provide recycling services.
“The new website and hotline
give Australians access to the most advanced recycling
resource in the country,” said Fiona Baxter, Group
Manager Corporate Responsibility for Sensis. “For
the first time, Australians will be able to access
localised recycling information simply by picking
up the phone or by going online.”
National Recycling Week runs
from Monday November 6 to Sunday November 12.
Regina Titelius (Minister Campbell)
Joe Fitzpatrick (Planet Ark)
Danielle Horan (Sensis)
