A councillor has urged avid recyclers not to take bottles and cans out of council yellow-top recycling bins and then take them to the machine in Woolworths to get ten cents a go.
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Andrew Parsons said that taking material from the yellow-topped bins meant that the council’s designated recycler, Glen Industries, was deprived of the income it gets by selling to bigger recycling depots.
He wrote on Facebook: “Glen Innes people should be supporting Glen Industries at the recycling centre. They need and deserve our support.
“If the items are on the kerb for collection they are (I believe ) and should be considered the property of Glen Industries. The money generated by Glen Industries goes to a most deserving group of people that make a significant contribution to our community.
He said that Glen Industries’ Manager, Kylie Hawkins and her team “are most deserving of the communities’ support.”
Coun. Parsons’ intervention came after it emerged that people had been seen taking recyclable material from recycling bins to get the money at Woolworths.
The introduction of the now highly popular “reverse vending machine” in the supermarket car park has transformed recycling in the town. It’s virtually created an industry where ordinary people scour parks and bins and even visit old people’s homes looking for bottles and cans to recycle.
This was what NSW intended – discarded material given a new use by enterprising gatherers.
But it’s also raised the question: Who owns the town’s rubbish?
Local business man, Brian Orvad, said: “At dusk the other night, when my dog started to bark at someone in the street, I went to the window and saw outside people going through the yellow-lid bin”.
He wants to know if that is theft?
The bottles and cans in the council scheme go to Glen Industries which sorts them and sells them to recycling centres. if Glen Industries (which employs disabled people) doesn’t get the material, it can’t sell it on.
Glen Industries is studying the situation. It’s too early to make an assessment of the impact of the new scheme or the way it’s being used or abused.
The legal situation is not clear. The situation may be different for which bin they take bottles and cans from. If it’s a an ordinary waste bin, the bottle or can wouldn’t have been recycled so the taker is grabbing what would have been thrown away or destroyed.
But if it’s from a yellow-top recycling bin, does it belong to the council or to the recycle enterprise?
It’s the talk of the town. Maybe lawyers will get involved. Maybe the police. Rubbish generates arguments.
