Brimbank is now home to the first permanent soft plastics and polystyrene recycling program in metro Melbourne.
As part of the program, Brimbank council has partnered with recycling company Close the Loop, which will turn the collected soft plastics into an asphalt additive called TonerPlas used to pave new roads in the municipality.
Every one kilometre of road paved with TonerPlas modified asphalt uses about 430,000 plastic bags.
Brimbank mayor Thuy Dang encouraged locals to use the service.
“Soft plastic is one of the most problematic types of waste. It either ends up in landfill, or it pollutes our green spaces and waterways. Polystyrene too cannot be recycled through kerbside collections, and often ends up in landfill,” Cr Dang said.
“Council’s new recycling service – to accept soft plastics and polystyrene at our Brimbank Resource Recovery Centre, is part of our broader effort to expand our circular economy programs and reduce illegal dumping and litter, by making it easier for residents to dispose of hard-to-recycle materials responsibly.”
Each year Brimbank residents use enough soft plastics to blanket the MCG oval 15 times over with most of this rubbish ending up in landfill, according to Brimbank council.
Residents can drop off soft plastics and polystyrene for free recycling at the Brimbank Resource Recovery Centre in Stadium Drive, Keilor Park.
