If you’re a serial rubbish offender then you may want to watch out, as council officials have started a new initiative cracking down on lazy recyclers with a simple sticker on their wheelie bins under a new WA government waste program.
The stickers, which consist of yellow, green or red hands pointing downwards, may be issued to those who fail to sort out their rubbish in the right bins.
Having launched on Thursday, the Face Your Waste website wants to educate and encourage the community to sort their waste into landfill, recycling and green waste bins.
According to the WA government, “approximately 25 per cent of the contents of a household’s general waste bin is actually recyclable material”.
The initiative is part of a $20 million waste program that was started by the Western Australian government to divert more waste from landfill.
From now on, councils will be auditing residents’ bins by checking the contents of their rubbish, recyclables and compost bins.
If residents fail to comply, then council officials will slap the stickers on their bins.
The stickers are meant to inform and educate people on how to correctly sort out their rubbish, which is why they will link to further information on the councils’ websites.
The average household creates 1,454 kilograms of waste per year, with approximately 100 kilograms of plastic packaging, according to the Face Your Waste website.