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Projects > sustainability > rrrc Waste Management
The South Metropolitan Regional Council, of which the City of Fremantle is a member, has implemented a regional waste management strategy in the form of the Regional Resource Recovery Centre that dramatically reduces household material sent to landfill by combining world-leading technology with a simple, community-friendly collection system.
The Regional Resource Recovery Centre diverted over 70% of waste from landfill. As Perth’s landfill sites fill up, get more scarce and expensive, the RRRC is making more and more sense, both economically and environmentally.
The RRRC treats two major resource streams.
The first of these comes from the yellow top bin. The yellow top bin is mechanically sorted to separate different recyclable streams: paper, cardboard, metal, glass and various grades of plastics. These products are then sold to other companies that use them to make new products.
The second stream comes the green top bins. The contents of your green top bins are manually sorted to remove any large, inorganic objects, such as basketballs or suitcases. The rest of the green top bins is industrially composted.
Non-recyclable and non-compostable items are automatically separated from both bins for landfill. Contrary to previous systems (and most people’s common sense), it is preferable to put these items in the yellow top bin. This is because it is generally easier to take landfill waste out of the dry recycling stream, rather than the less dry composting stream.
Another important consideration for household waste is hazardous household waste (HHW), such as batteries, paint, asbestos and chemicals. These items contaminate compost and recyclables, spreading toxic substances through our environment. For batteries there are now 2 locations in the City where you can deliver batteries for proper recycling – the City’s admin building or the City’s depot. For more information on how to safely handle batteries and other HHW items, see your SMRC fridge magnet/calendar or contact SMRC directly.
For more information, please contact the Southern Metropolitan Regional Council on 9316 3988.
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