Landfills can be rotten news

A 30-YEAR-OLD newspaper recovered from Noosa’s landfill is helping promote recycling at local schools.
Council’s sustainability officer Emma Menzies said the paper offered a disturbing insight as to how long litter can take to break down.
“If newspaper, which typically breaks down within six weeks, can last three decades in a landfill, it is frightening to think that plastics, which cause untold harm to wildlife, can remain in the environment for hundreds of years,” she said.
The council is taking its Towards Zero Waste campaign to local schools to highlight the importance of plastic recycling and waste minimisation.
Sunshine Beach State High School is the latest school to begin recycling, with the school’s student council members working with the council to introduce recycling bins.
“When recyclable plastics make it into the recycling bin it keeps them out of the waste stream and the environment – a message the students are embracing,” Ms Menzies said.
“For some schools this may mean starting a worm farm to help divert organic waste from landfill, or for others, it may be in the roll-out of recycling bins and behaviour change efforts to encourage better recycling habits.
“There is also a great synergy with Sunshine Beach State High School’s excellence in surfing program with many of the students realising the importance of recycling from having seen the amount of rubbish that ends up in the ocean.”
Recycling bins are also being rolled out at nearby Good Shepherd Lutheran College, while Noosa District State High School Year 11 students have set up a worm farm.
“The students are learning how worm castings and worm leachate can be a great fertiliser, and they are testing the liquid worm fertiliser on different plants,” Ms Menzies said.
The council is also taking its message of zero waste to the streets with recycling bins set to be rolled out along Hastings Street later this month according to a council spokesperson.
“The council already provides numerous recycling bins along Gympie Terrace. We intend to provide public place recycling along Hastings Street under the terms of the new contract, this commences in September 2017. We’ve already provided one recycling bin on Hastings Street when we replaced the solar bin last month,” they said.