Zero Waste

REFUSE - REDUCE - REUSE - RECYCLE

Recycling – make your efforts count!

Are you recycling correctly?

Let’s recycle better and decrease our recycling contamination rate by:

Reusing plastic bags and putting recyclables in your bin loose. Don’t put plastic bags in your recycling bin or bag your recyclables before placing in the bin.
Cardboard, cartons and pizza boxes can be recycled, but put waxed cardboard in your domestic waste bin and make sure pizza boxes are not soiled with food.
Removing lids from aerosol cans and glass and plastic containers before recycling. Lids should be placed in your domestic waste bin.
Rinsing dirty recyclables.
Garden waste should be composted or put in your domestic waste bin – not in your recycling.

For further information on How To Sort Your Waste click here.

Soft Plastic Recycling Program

REDCYCLE has currently suspended all soft plastics collection. Residents should aim to avoid purchasing items containing soft plastic as there are currently no recycling options for this low value product.

The Soft Plastic Recycling Program is conducted through RedCycle, where household soft plastic waste can be recycled rather than going to landfill. Please refer to the link and guide below as to which types of soft plastics can be deposited in the RedCycle collection bins. Please click here to find the nearest location of the RedCycle collection bins to you.

Only non-coloured LDPE (low density polyethylene) soft plastics should be placed in the collection bins.

All plastics should be clean and dry.

Accepted	Not accepted
Cling wrap and film	All hard plastics (includes biscuit trays)
Clear produce bags	Polystyrene (includes meat trays)
Supermarket fruit and veg bags	Supermarket checkout shopping bags
Clear bread bags	Black plastic
Bubble wrap	Coloured plastic
Newspaper and magazine wrapping

Disposing of the incorrect type of plastic or other waste into the collection bins can contaminate the recycling, meaning it cannot be processed and is diverted to landfill instead. Remember, the best action you can take for the environment is to avoid soft plastic bags and packaging when buying products.

For further information, please see the poster here. More information on the composition of plastic bags can be found on the Planet Ark website at: http://schoolsrecycle.planetark.org/documents/doc-854-plastic-bags-factsheet-2012.pdf.

Fast facts:

The Redcycling soft plastic recycling program only caters to households.
See Planet Ark’s Business Recycling website at http://businessrecycling.com.au/ for soft plastic recycling options available to businesses.
Supermarket checkout shopping bags are generally made from HDPE (high density polyethylene).
Recycling requires a market for the recycled product. Remondis’ market for recycled soft plastic is only for non-coloured LDPE.
Coles Albany and Woolworths is the nearest REDcycle soft plastic collection point and accepts all types of soft plastic and plastic bags (HDPE and LDPE).
LDPE is sometimes marked with the symbol:

Battery and Light Bulb Recycling

Help keep batteries and fluorescent light bulbs OUT of landfill and OUT of your kerbside recycling bin.

As landfill, they can leach toxic heavy metals into soil and water and lithium batteries can become dangerous if damaged or over-heated. Batteries and light bulbs in your recycling bin can contaminate your other recyclables.

Most of the materials which make up batteries and fluorescent light bulbs can be recycled into other products. Old batteries can become new batteries and fluorescent light bulbs can be broken down to make insulation and mercury.

The Shire of Denmark offers residents FREE drop-off locations for batteries and fluorescent light bulbs at the Shire Administration building and the Denmark Waste Management and Refuse Facility. So, bring in your household batteries and fluorescent light bulbs next time you stop by.

If you need further information on household recycling, please contact the Shire on phone 9848 0300.

Click here for the Shire’s waste and recycling program and available services.

Green Waste

Green Waste to Biochar

New scalable bioenergy and composting technologies allows for green waste and compostable municipal solid waste (MSW) to be safely processed into energy, compost and biochar using technologies developed in Western Australia.

By processing green waste locally, it can be safely converted into thermal or electrical energy, and stable carbon fractions (biochars) suitable for sequestration into agricultural soils to enable carbon neutrality. This is because the carbon in the biochar is recognised as a net removal of carbon from the atmosphere - enabling a negative emission to be accounted for, balancing out other emissions.

Biochar has been shown to improve nutrient use efficiency, improve water soil water retention, minimise nutrient loss, improve soil biology, and potentially reduce enteric fermentation in ruminants. The main constraint to the productive use of biochar in agriculture is the lack of supply.

With funding from the WA government's Future Carbon program, Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee (WICC) has partnered with Murdoch University, Green Skills and the Shire of Denmark to explore converting the Shire of Denmark’s 800 tonnes of green waste per annum into biochar. Biochar is essentially charcoal, packed full of carbon. Biochar can be fed to livestock improving animal health and reducing enteric methane production. This program will include a trial feeding biochar to dairy cattle which has been shown elsewhere to increase milk production substantially.

Garage Sale Trail

Australia’s largest sustainability and community festival, the Garage Sale Trail, has been facilitated by the Shire of Denmark over the past few years on an annual basis each November.

Australia's biggest treasure hunt is back over two big weekends: 11-12 November and 18-19 November. Please see the attached sales listings for a list of registered sales happening in Denmark

Or visit the Shire of Denmark Garage Sale Trail for online Denmark sales listings at: https://www.garagesaletrail.com.au/shire-of-denmark

The Garage Sale Trail encourages community members to sell, shop and learn about the circular economy, promoting the premise of reduce, reuse and recycle as an important step in the fight against climate change. The Shire encourages community organisations and clubs, schools, and the broader community to get behind the initiative by signing up and taking part in the festivities.

The Garage Sale Trail is aligned with the Shire of Denmark’s Sustainability key objective outlined in the Shire’s Sustainability Strategy 2021-2031 2.2 Support the community to promote a circular economy and buy local philosophy.

Please click here to access the Shire of Denmark Garage Sale Trail Impact Report 2023.

For further details on the Garage Sale Trail please visit: https://www.garagesaletrail.com.au/

For Schools: https://www.garagesaletrail.com.au/get-involved/schools

For Community and Clubs: https://www.garagesaletrail.com.au/get-involved/groups

For further information please email: contactus@garagesaletrail.com.au

For related events please visit the Shire of Denmark MyCommunity Diary website at: https://www.mycommunitydiary.com.au/Western_Australia/Denmark

Cloth Nappies

The Shire of Denmark and Department of Health Western Australian Country Health Service are working on a collaborative project with local enthusiasts to promote the use of cloth nappies.

The program will see every Denmark new baby receive the gift of one cloth nappy along with a promotional flyer outlining the savings to both your pocket, as well as to the environment in reducing waste to landfill in an effort to moving towards zero waste.

You can purchase cloth nappies online or locally made by Plastic Reduction Denmark members at the Denmark Cottage Crafts located at 5 Mitchell St. Denmark and for sale at Green Pantry. There are also several places in Denmark that stock reusable cloth nappies including IGA Xpress, Wholly Local and the Denmark Pharmacy.

There is also a pattern available for loan through the Shire of Denmark Library if you are wanting to make your own!

For more information on the initiative as well as where to find further information and to purchase cloth nappies locally please see the attached flyer: Cloth Nappies

Denmark's Coffee Cup Reusable Network

As part of the transition towards Zero Waste the Shire in collaboration with local community activist group Plastic Reduction Denmark has been consulting with local café retailers to reduce single-use coffee cup waste in Denmark. In addition to the mug library initiative that has already been implemented, there has been broad support for the introduction of a network reusable coffee cup solution.

“A reusable coffee cup network is ideally suited to a town the size of Denmark as a great way to encourage the community, and visiting tourists, to embrace reusables, rather than single-use disposables.” enthused Shire Sustainability Officer Yvette Caruso.

This zero waste initiative to reduce single-use disposable coffee cup items was instigated by local community group Plastic Reduction Denmark, in line with the state government WA Plan for Plastics ban and is a priority focus to be introduced over the busy summer tourist period to maximise consumer uptake.

“The Shire is subsidising a three month trial of ReturnR subscription and coffee cup starter packs to implement a reusable coffee cup network amongst interested participating cafes in keeping with the ethos of a circular economy.” explained Shire Sustainability Officer Yvette Caruso.

Local business food retailers have been provided with the option to be gifted a subscription and reusable coffee cup starter pack in a collaborative project between the Shire, Plastic Reduction Denmark, Green Pantry and ReturnR in an effort to reduce and eliminate single-use plastics.

“The customer has the option of paying a refundable $6 deposit for the stainless steel coffee cup, and can choose to return and be refunded the deposit or refill the coffee cup at participating café retailers.” enthused Sustainability Officer Yvette Caruso.

Participating cafes include: Green Pantry, Teahouse Books, Ravens and Tarifa.

The Shire and Plastic Reduction Denmark have been working directly with food retailers by providing information on the reusable coffee cup network as an alternative to single-use disposable coffee cups which will make it easy for local businesses to become ban compliant. The program gives participating small businesses a starter coffee cup pack along with resources to communicate the proposed network with the community assisting to reduce waste and elimination of single use disposable coffee cups.

Use Reusable Coffee Cup

Denmark Cafes' Mug Library

Denmark hospitality businesses are taking another step in the Zero Waste transition with several local cafes taking part in a new ‘mug library’ initiative.
The Shire has been busy creating a mug library with donated and unwanted mugs, bundled up in hampers to distribute to participating businesses around town.

A mug library is a collection of mugs and coffee cups for people to borrow and return at any participating café throughout town and is a great way to encourage the community to embrace reusables, rather than single-use disposables.

This zero-waste initiative to reduce single-use disposable coffee cup items was instigated by local community group Plastic Reduction Denmark, in line with the State Government WA Plan for Plastics ban and has been a priority focus of the Shire’s Sustainable Projects Committee through the Shire’s Sustainability Strategy.

The coffee cup hampers were made up of mugs obtained from the tip shop as well as mugs donated by Shire staff in keeping with the ethos of a circular economy.

Participating cafes that received a community mug library hamper include Tea House Books, Ravens, Green Pantry, Gelato, Fig Tree Bakery, French Hot Bread Bakery, Reminisce Café and the Kebab Shop.

Local business food retailers have also been provided with the option to subscribe to the WA Plastic Free program in a collaborative project between the Shire, the Chamber of Commerce, Plastic Reduction Denmark and Boomerang Alliance in an effort to reduce and eliminate single-use plastics.

The Shire and Boomerang Alliance have been working directly with food retailers by providing free tailored advice for alternatives to single-use plastics which makes it easy for local businesses to become ban compliant. The program gives participating businesses tools and resources to communicate the changes with the community.

This zero waste project is aligned with the Shire of Denmark’s Sustainability Strategy sustainability pillar Zero Waste objective: The Shire seeks to embrace the role of a leader in the community by minimising waste; and action item ZW9) Support and encourage initiatives that promote zero plastic packaging for fruit, vegetables and associated products.

More information on Disposable Cup Free Denmark can be obtained in this brochure.

For more information on mug libraries please visit: https://www.plasticfreeplaces.org/post/muglibrary

Further information on the WA Plastic Free initiative can be found on the Shire Sustainable Materials webpage or on the WA Plan for Plastics Stage 2 weblink.

Plastic Free WA

The WA State Government is banning certain single-use plastic items throughout 2022 and 2023, as other States and territories around Australia are also doing. Items included in the WA ban for 2022 include:

plastic straws
plastic stirrers
plastic cutlery
plastic plates and bowls
plastic cups for cold beverages/food
thick plastic bags
expanded polystyrene (foam) takeaway food containers
helium balloon releases

Shire of Denmark local business food retailers have the option to subscribe to the WA Plastic Free program liaising with the Shire, the Chamber of Commerce, Plastic Reduction Denmark and Boomerang Alliance in an effort to reduce and eliminate single-use plastics. The program has Shire support and is free and open to any food retailer.

Boomerang Alliance coordinator Bree Jennings worked directly with food retailers by providing free tailored advice for alternatives to single-use plastics to make it easy for local businesses to become ban compliant. The program gave participating small businesses tools and resources to communicate the changes with the community, assisting to reduce waste with free promotion for member businesses.

For more information please head to WA Plastic Free or contact local Coordinator Bree via bree.jennings@boomerangalliance.org.au