FRUSTRATIONS over improper waste disposal habits have reached fever pitch at Mount Gambier’s Green Triangle Recyclers following the discovery of an animal carcass in items collected from kerbside recycling.
Green Triangle Recyclers owner Ian Weber said a lamb carcass found in waste this week follows the recent dumping of a pig’s head.
“We have had a live tiger snake come through this summer as well,” Mr Weber said.
“These things come through periodically and there is a number of people who work on the line, but nobody wants to be handling this kind of thing.”
The blatant disregard for recycling practices comes as frustrations mount over the amount of contaminated items received from the city’s kerbside recycling, which Mr Weber estimates to be around 30pc of all items.
“Another thing people are continuously doing is putting recycling in plastic bags,” Mr Weber said.
“No matter what is in the bag we do not open them and we do not recycle them.
“We have no idea what is actually in them, it could be pet feces or it could be hazardous needles.”
Mount Gambier City Council has recycling advice available for free viewing on its website to encourage local residents to make use of their bins.
“We get rose cuttings which can go in the green bin,” Mr Weber said.
“People obviously have their regular bin or green bin full and decided they have nowhere else to put it.
“Then they put it in the recycling bin and it becomes our problem.”
Mr Weber said with the large amount of contamination rates they are seeing, around 30pc o labor fees are spent of sorting out landfill rubbish.
“Sometimes during summer we receive crustacean shells and other rubbish,” he said.
“People cannot put rope, blankets, carcasses or pillow, nappies or anything like that into the recycling.
“It is all due to a combination of things, some people put things in the recycling wanting it to be recycled but do not know that what they are doing is the opposite.”
Mr Weber said people who are lacking in room for their kerbside landfill is also an issue stating people do put their rubbish in the bottom of the recycling bin for workers to sort out.
“People can be sneaky, they put it at the bottom of the recycling bins and then put the recyclable material over the top, it is a major problem,” he said.
“People are just going to have to start doing the right thing.
“We have been discussing the issue of contamination for years but people just are not listening.”
