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Fight the festive war on waste

Nestlé calls for Aussies to get recycling savvy in the kitchen 
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With the festive season ramping up, families around the country are getting ready to bake, baste, glaze and roast their way into the New Year.

As kitchens around the nation go into overdrive, research from Nestlé has found that our rubbish bins will be more stuffed than a turducken, with three quarters1 (74%) of householders preparing for their bins to bulge with excess waste. 

The festive waste overflow means that Santa won’t be the only one sneaking around making deliveries, with around one in four (24%) Aussies admitting to stealthily stowing waste in their neighbours’ bins.

Nestlé packaging specialist, Jacky Nordsvan, says there are some simple things we can do to keep the bin lid down and help win the war on festive waste.

“December is certainly a wonderful time for lots of creations from the kitchen – unfortunately this often means more food packaging waste, making it essential for us to think about how to recycle right,” Nordsvan said. 

Research2 shows that while the majority (96%) of households are passionate about wanting to recycle right, an equally high number (94%) admit to inadvertently putting rubbish in the wrong bin. 

Nordsvan continued, “We know that Australians care passionately about the environment, but recycling can be confusing. One of the easiest things to do is to look for and follow the Australasian Recycling Label on pack – it’s a recipe for recycling right.” 

The Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) offers clear instructions on pack on what to do with every bit of packaging – whether it goes in the recycling bin, rubbish bin, or special instructions that should be followed. 

“Another way to tackle festive waste is to catch one of the biggest culprits in our bins that go to landfill – soft plastics – items such as food wrappers and bags, generally speaking these are plastic items that can be scrunched. It’s estimated that 20 per cent of our red bin contents is soft plastics, much of which can be recycled,” said Nordsvan. 

“Soft plastics simply need to be collected and returned to REDcycle collection points at your local supermarket, and then they can be recycled – and you will have done the right thing for the environment and freed up space in your bin. Win-win!”
 
Nestlé has five top tips to help Aussies get their groceries from the shopping aisle to the right recycling pile this festive season:

1.    Know what bin to recycle in: Look for the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL), a recipe for recycling right – it tells you what packaging can be recycled, and how to recycle it.
2.    Are you a scruncher or a folder?: Different materials need to be disposed of in different ways. The ARL shows you any instructions that must be followed, such as scrunch, flatten or fold, to be able to recycle the packaging component. 
3.    Be a giver this Christmas: Give back your soft plastics. Set up your own ‘Santa sack’, stow your soft plastics, then drop them for recycling at a REDcycle collection point, available at most supermarkets.
4.    Get loose this festive season: Put all your recyclables in your recycling bin loose, not inside a bag or other recyclables. Sadly, Santa’s elves aren’t siting on the recycling line helping to pull things apart.
5.    If in doubt, chuck it out: If you’re not sure if something can be recycled, to avoid contaminating the recycling stream, put it in your red bin. 

For more information on the ARL and recycling right this festive season, visit: www.arl.org.au  

To find out your nearest REDcycle drop of location visit: www.redcycle.net.au