More than a tonne of Maggie Island waste saved from landfill
Date published: 12 October 2021
Almost 70 kilograms of waste materials on Magnetic Island found a new life each day last month, with locals and visitors making the most of the Magnetic Island Tip Shop.
The shop recovers items that are still in good condition and sells them to the public for low prices. In September, the Tip Shop saved 1,449 kilograms of household items like couches, crutches, prams, and more from being sent into landfill.
Water and Waste Committee chairperson Russ Cook said it was a great effort to help prevent items being disposed of on the mainland.
“One of Council’s Corporate Plan goals is to have a circular economy that moves the city towards having zero waste, and the Magnetic Island Tip Shop is the perfect example of a circular economy in action,” Cr Cook said.
“The Tip Shop allows us to reduce items sent to landfill by repurposing these items at a low cost to shoppers who can then reuse the item around their own homes.
“As it stands, Townsville Waste Services receives 360,000 tonnes of waste at its one landfill and five transfer stations each year. Just less than half of this ends up in landfill, which means that we’re already doing great work diverting waste but that we can do even more to make sure we’re reducing the waste that ends up in our landfill.”
Cr Cook said Townsville had one active landfill site at Stuart and had capped the Hervey Range landfill with bituminous geomembrane late last year.
“In mid-2020, Council built a new landfill cell at the Stuart Waste Facility that is about the size of 260 Olympic swimming pools. That sounds big, but it is expected to only last for up to 24 months before a new cell will have to be constructed,” he said.
“If we all take the time to reduce, reuse and recycle, we’ll be able to help make the cell last a lot longer. In fact, if every household reduced the waste in its bins by just 10 per cent, the cell could last an extra three months.
“This is why diverting reusable items into the Magnetic Island, Stuart and Hervey Range tip shops is a great move towards our city’s aspiration of having zero waste.”
For more information about waste management in Townsville, visit Transfer Stations and Landfill.
