National Recycling Week is on 10th – 16th November and it offers some great opportunities for workmates, friends and families to become even better recyclers.

Seven Secrets of Successful Recyclers

Plane Ark has just released a major report, Seven Secrets of Successful Recyclers, that provides a good look at Australia’s recycling performance. There’s good news, with 91% of us agreeing that recycling is the right thing to do and 98% participating in recycling in some way. On the other hand there are some surprises in the degree to which recycling rates differ between states, and it’s fair to say that, as a nation, we can do better.

The full report (pdf, 4.7MB) is packed full of juicy recycling facts. Did you know that metropolitan Coles and Woolworths stores now accept a wide range of soft plastics – shopping and bread bags, pasta, rice, cereal and dry cleaning bags and more – for recycling? Or that there is a whole range of recycling options for things that can’t go in your home recycling bin, including mobile phones, printer cartridges and batteries?

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Read the report and you’ll not only be the family recycling expert, you’ll be ready to organise…

An office fling

Filling the filing cabinets around the nation are thousands of tonnes of paper that will never be used again. It takes much less energy and water to recycle paper than it does to make it from virgin fibre, so wouldn’t it be better to give all those old files a new lease on life?

That’s the idea behind Planet Ark’s Friday File Fling, and on Friday 14th November we are planning a big one.

Friday File Fling is a chance for workmates to come together to fling out those old files, and it’s easy to organise one in your workplace. You could even include morning or afternoon tea to ease the thirsty work and help declutter the office.

Confidential files will need to be recycled appropriately, and remember that paper that’s clean on one side can be used again before going into the recycling bin. You can use it for draft printing or make into notebooks (we even have an adaptable Notebook Cover you can use).

Reuse before recycling

Finally, complete the cycle by buying paper with a high level of recycled content. The first 1,000 businesses to register for the November event will get a boost with a free ream of Reflex White 100% Recycled paper to trial.

We’ve come a long way since the early days of kerbside recycling, and that’s something to celebrate. So keep an eye out for our big National Recycling Week insert in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on 10th November, and join us in taking recycling to the next level.

Shaun Scallan is Manager, Recycling Programs at Planet Ark.

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