WHETHER it is bottles, cans, batteries, or tin, Millicent residents are processing more items through the Millicent Bottle and Can Centre and Millicent Scrap Metal Recyclers.
Millicent Bottle and Can Centre manager Kayleen Cook has seen a steady growth in people recycling their bottles and cans responsibly.
“We have noticed a lot more people are becoming aware of the importance of recycling and to reclaim their refund on already purchased deposit items, and we are also seeing more people from out of town and rural areas that are using our service,” she said.
“As they are able to drop off their recycling on their way into town, they can go about their daily tasks and pick them up on their way back home with no waiting time.
“This drop and collect service also benefits us when it’s busy – we can work around busy customers and their time schedules to meet their needs.
“Everything is folded, packed and labelled ready for them to collect, which works for many people who are coming into town for other commitments, or even passing through and collecting the next time they’re in town.”
Ms Cook said all details were recorded and many work places and individuals also used the system.
She said disposers are able to build up their refund for special functions or holiday parties.
“It’s a bit quieter at this time of year, but it is clear that people want to make that effort,” Ms Cook said.
“People will bring in non-refundable items such as jars and wine bottles just to participate in recycling.”
Ms Cook said glass was processed outside of the main sorting facility for health and safety reasons and besides plastic milk cartons, nearly every type of consumable liquid container was able to be processed and refunded.
The centre can also recycle feed bags from farmers and horse enthusiasts, so they can supply customers with manageable handling bags to keep their bottles separate, for faster processing.
“We appreciate any used fodder feed bags to be able to recycle and pass these onto our customers,” Ms Cook said.
The biggest issue for the centre recently has been its inability to accept large loads of cardboard due to China’s National Sword Policy, which places stricter regulations on paper, plastic, and various other landfill being imported into the Asian country.
“It is no longer viable for us to process large amounts of cardboard, as we are paying freight to transport it and not seeing any returns,” Ms Cook said.
“It is costing us to process our in-house cardboard that comes with customer’s recycling, so we’re redirecting local businesses and other customers to the refuse centre, for the first time.
“The new policy has also impacted our employee Steven Sutherland, who has happily been processing cardboard for people since 2005.”
The centre will accept bottle lids until August 22 to be sent to Kangaroo Inn Area School for the school’s partnership with the Envision Hands project, which turns the lids into mobility aids for children in need.
“You can do so many things with plastics now, it’s really quite positive,” Ms Cook.
“It is great to see another Limestone Coast local business, Transmutation in Robe, doing cool things with non-deposit plastics, repurposing them into various items.”
Most metal products in Millicent end up at Millicent Scrap Metal Recyclers, otherwise known as J & A Valcarcel-Fuentes & Sons Pty Ltd.
Director Manny Valcarcel-Fuentes said car batteries, copper tin and bits of wire are some of the most frequent items people bring in to the business.
Mr Valcarcel-Fuentes said it all goes, with metal being melted down and reused.
