Tasmania Minister Brian Wightman launches Veolia's new recycling education vehicle

Tasmania's main recycler Veolia collects about 65,000 tons of recyclable waste every year

By Scrap Monster
The recycling message is hitting the streets of Tasmania, to boost awareness of what can be re-used and recovered. The Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage, Brian Wightman, today officially launched Veolia’s new recycling education vehicle in Hobart.

“Many Tasmania’s have enthusiastically embraced the need to recycle and reduce waste in recent decades,” Mr Wightman said. “Our community is good at participating in recycling, but the evidence suggests we could benefit from more information about exactly what to put in recycling bins. “As Tasmania’s main recycler, Veolia collects about 65,000 tonnes of recyclable waste from Tasmanian households each year.“But an average of 10 percent, or 6500 tonnes, of those recyclables are found in general waste, and end up in landfill. “The national target is for only three per cent of recyclables to end up in general waste, and Veolia does a lot of promotion work in schools and clubs to improve recycling habits. “I applaud the company for stepping-up their education campaign, by investing in this new vehicle.

“They’re also investing in a cleaner, sustainable future for our community,” he said. To help design the vehicle’s exterior, Veolia launched a competition for Tasmanian primary school students. Almost 400 entries were received. The winning submission highlighted one of the vehicle’s key messages - to engage with the recyclers of the future. Mr Wightman said it’s timely to note that the education vehicle is being launched during National Recycling Week.

The State Government (through the Department of Education and the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment) will shortly be hosting the Kids 4 Kids Environment Conference in both Hobart and Port Sorell. In coming months, DPIPWE will also be hosting exhibitions of the Bricolage Design Prize in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie. It encourages entrants to develop of marketable products from industrial waste, and promotes the re-use and recycling of discarded materials.