Smart ways to curb landfill load

Welcome to the first of our weekly column covering the three Rs of waste — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Reduce — The amount of waste you produce, this could be within or outside your living environment.

Reuse — Find a new way to use items before considering them as waste. Hint — look-up “upcycled” ideas for inspiration.

Recycling — Breaks waste down into its original material before being created into something new, which can then be resold.

Each week we will focus on one area of the three Rs to provide tips on reducing waste, reminders of where you can take your waste, what happens to recycled waste, recycling updates and news, including the 10¢ container deposit scheme starting in June 2020.

This week: Used or expired printer ink cartridges and toners!

This recycling program was started by Close the Loop, through Planet Ark. There are collection points at Office National Kununurra and Revive.

Businesses and offices can register to collect through the Close the Loop website.

Once the collection bins are full the bags are sealed up and posted to Close the Loop in Victoria where the products are recycled.

The program will accept any printer cartridge, toner bottles, drum unit or fuser kits from any of the selected manufacturers — you can find the list of manufacturers on the Close the Loop website.

The program will not accept any packaging so please remember to remove all excess plastics and cardboard.

All components of printer cartridges can be recycled, including toner powder, metals and plastics.

The remaining components are recycled, with some of the plastic being produced into products to provide an alternative or replace a material such as timber.

Products are then produced by Planet Ark such as outdoor furniture, fencing, garden edging and road surfaces. You can view and purchase recycled products through Cartridges 4 Planet Ark.

Recycling through Planet Ark ensures Zero Waste to landfill. Participating manufacturers practice the “end of life” management solution, which takes back the responsibility to ensure products don’t end up in our landfill systems effecting our precious environment.

Remember to use recycled paper and happy three R’s!

Paige McLachlan is the site leader at Revive Resource Recovery, an initiative of East Kimberley Job Pathways.