Recycle right this Easter
Easter is a time of 'egg-cessive' waste in our community, with a huge surge in confectionary wrappers, packaging and toys all making their way to landfill or contaminating the recycling stream.
You can reduce your environmental impact by making a few simple shopping swaps and taking care when placing items in your yellow lid bin.
When shopping
Try to avoid:
- Plastic egg crates and disposable baskets
- Plastic eggs and other plastic toys
- Plush toys, such as bunnies and chicks, and other themed toys that are unlikely to get played with after Easter.
- Decorations you're unlikely to reuse for many years to come.
Look for:
- Chocolate and confectionary in minimal or zero packaging, such as from bulk food stores or lolly shops where you can fill your own bag.
- Easter eggs in recyclable packaging, such as cardboard boxes.
- Zero or low waste gifts instead of toys, such as movie or event tickets, gaming arcade passes or wildlife/adventure park vouchers.
- Consumable gifts, such as wine, honey, coffee, tea, soaps and candles. Buy local wherever possible to help support our local small businesses, or make your own treats and gifts!
Recycle right
| Easter packaging | How to dispose of it |
|---|---|
| Easter egg aluminium foil (scrunched into tennis size balls or captured inside an empty soft drink can) | Yellow lid bin |
| Soft plastics e.g. bags and plastic 'foil' | Curby Soft Plastics Program |
| Hard plastics e.g. moulded inserts, plastic egg cartons | Yellow lid bin |
| Cardboard boxes (flattened) | Yellow lid bin |
Easter egg foil
Taking time to recycle your foil wrappers is a big win for our environment. Just 5% of the electricity is required to make aluminium from recycled sources than from raw materials.
Before placing aluminium foil in your yellow lid recycling bin:
- scrunch into tight balls, the size of tennis balls or larger;
- contain small pieces inside an empty aluminium can, such as a soft drink can.
It's important to prepare foil correctly for recycling. 'Fibre' materials, such as paper and cardboard, are sorted at the recycling facility before aluminium. The sorting machinery will typically mistake loose pieces of foil for paper, with the foil contaminating the paper stream.
Soft plastic packaging and plastic 'foil'
Soft plastics should not be placed in your yellow lid bin. This includes:
- hot cross bun bags
- plastic 'foil' (that doesn't retain the shape of a ball when scrunched)
- confectionery bags.
You can easily recycle household soft plastics from home through the Curby Soft Plastics Program or by dropping them off at Summerhill Waste Management Centre.
Cardboard boxes and hard plastic inserts/egg crates
Cardboard and hard plastic packaging can be recycled in your yellow lid bin. Flatten cardboard boxes to conserve bin space.
