Harden and Murrumburrah are set to become cleaner and more environmentally friendly thanks to a new kerbside recycling service. The fortnightly household recycling service, which begins on August 14, aims to help from the environmental perspective by not creating unnecessary waste, and also keep costs down for the community.

Harden Shire Council working with Elouera Industries, their recycling contractor, is committed to reducing the amount of waste going to landfill by encouraging recycling.

Simon Miller from the Council said today, “In the past our waste was piled together and just went to the tip. This year, a large percentage will be successfully recycled because of the program.”

There are many benefits to recycling, perhaps the most important of which, is the fact that recycling and re-using materials alleviates the need to use our precious natural resources when producing materials from scratch. In doing so, this also reduces the amount of energy and water used as well reducing air emissions, where large amounts are used in the processing of raw materials.

Recycling effectively reduces the amount of waste going to landfill which has become increasingly important in recent years. The government has now placed a tip levy fee on all loads delivered to landfill, proceeds of which shall go toward funding for better and more effective ways of waste minimisation. This is extremely important to the government, as there are both long and short term consequences to ineffective waste management.

Recycling can also help you reduce the cost of waste disposal. As more material is diverted form landfill through recycling, more money is saved. With less rubbish being delivered to these sites, the set up and maintenance costs are reduced, thereby decreasing the overall cost to local government and in turn the local resident.

Overall, recycling should be encouraged in order to gain the full benefits, and in effect, help the sustainability of our precious environment.