Australia is one of the largest waste producers in the world. Although they recycle just the same as other countries, they still have an enormous waste issue. This is a major issue around the world.
Hard rubbish is only part of the problem, but it is a big part. You can research more about it and visit ridly.com.au about hard rubbish collection in Sydney.
This article will talk about trash collection in Australia. It will also mention hard rubbish collection. Both are issues there right now and can be solved with the right companies that will dispose of them.
Rubbish Collection Sydney
Landfills
One study done by ABC says that there are 67 million tonnes of garbage sent to landfills in Australia. About 82% of that is hard rubbish, or things that are not easily recycled. This is a lot of hard rubbish that just sits at landfills.
This means that there is a lot of trash that each household sends to the landfill each year. There are about 1.5 tonnes per household per year that goes to the landfill: https://planetark.org/newsroom/news/how-much-waste-does-australia-generate-and-where-does-it-go. Only about 2% of that is converted to energy each year.
If people were to recycle everything that can be recycled, we would save much room in the landfill. We would save our groundwater and our environment if we would recycle more. There are many places where we can recycle most things, so it should be very simple to do.
Single Use Plastic Bags
Australia has had a ban on single use plastic bags beginning in November of 2011. This has saved some room in the landfills, but more importantly it has helped wildlife. Before this ban, about 8 million tonnes of plastic bags ended up in the oceans surrounding the country.
Plastic bags can be dangerous for sea life in many ways. The bags can get wrapped around the bodies of different sea animals. It can also be eaten by different animals and cause issues with their digestive systems. There are also other ways that plastic can harm sea life.
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Plastic can break down into smaller beads that are then eaten by sea life. It can also cause cuts and lacerations that then lead to infection. If wrapped around their bodies, it can cause a reduction in their ability to swim.
Seabirds and Plastic
The World Wildlife Fund says that nearly a million seabirds will die annually because of plastic in the ocean. They eat the plastic, and they are also injured by the plastic as it wraps around their bodies. There are about three million tonnes of plastic that are thrown away each year.
Australians only recycle about 12% of the plastic that they use each year. This leaves a lot to be tossed into the ocean to harm the seabirds. More needs to be recycled so that sea life can be saved from horrible deaths by plastic.
Many seabirds die each year because they starve to death after ingesting plastic. They often mistake the plastic rubbish as prey and eat the plastic. They also eat plastic when they are trying to eat fish eggs that are on plastic.
Hard Rubbish Collection
Many cities in Australia have at least one day a year that they will collect hard trash. There are rules that you must follow about this collection, such as the types of rubbish that can be picked up. Usually, grass clippings and things bigger than two cubic metres are not allowed.
Many cities ask that you separate your hard rubbish into five different categories. You need to have your hard waste, green waste, e-waste and refrigerators, scrap metal and white goods, and mattresses. This way all the rubbish goes to the right place.
Not Collectible Hard Rubbish
There are many things that cannot be collected. These items can cause damage to the landfills in different ways. They are not safe for the environment, even in landfills.
Some of these items are tyres, wheels, and batteries. You can’t have fencing, rubble, soil, bricks, or concrete picked up. Some other things that you can’t have picked up are poison, pool chemicals, asbestos, gas bottles, and fuel tanks.
There is more hard trash that can’t be collected. You will have to do more research to see what can and cannot be collected. You could start by calling your local municipality to see what they have to say.
Wasted Food
About 1/3 of all food is wasted worldwide. In Australia, there is over seven million tonnes of food being thrown out each year. See here to learn more about food waste. That is about three thousand dollars per household per year.
What is sad about this is that there are millions of people who go hungry each day, and people are just throwing away food. If there could be a way to recycle edible food to others, it would aid these millions of people. Some companies do donate their leftover supplies from that day to charities, but as of right now, it is not enough.
Landfill Pollution
Landfills are the number one contributor to ground pollution. What makes that even worse is that about 80% of the items in the landfill could be recycled. Instead, it is left to decompose slowly in the landfill.
The landfills will leach chemicals from the decomposing trash into the groundwater. When the water leaks through the landfill, it will pick up other contaminants and will create a toxic mix that is called leachate. This all ends up in the groundwater and can cause problems for people down the line.
Expense of Waste Management
Taking care of the country’s waste can be expensive. It can cost as much as $250 million each year. This is enough to solve about a tenth of the world’s hunger issues. You could provide about one meal per person living in Australia.
You could also do a lot more for the poor people living in the country. You could provide many needed services around the country. This is a lot to spend on taking care of rubbish.
Decomposition
It takes a lot longer than what you expect for things to decompose. For example, it takes about six months for something as simple as an orange peel to decompose. An aluminum can might take a hundred years to break down.
A Styrofoam cup will take forever to break down and a glass bottle would take a million years. This is not what you expect when you toss your rubbish into the landfill. You don’t expect your trash to affect your great-grandchildren.
You Must Have Hard Rubbish Removed
If you don’t remove the hard rubbish from around your home, you could bring in vermin such as rats and mice. You could also have lots of bugs such as cockroaches and flies that are attracted. You don’t want to have all these pests around your home.
Leaving this trash around your home will also harm your city. Because of the vermin that it attracts, your neighbors will also be subject to disease from them. You don’t want to cause these types of issues, so you need to have it removed.
Hard Rubbish Collection
There are many collection dates each year where cities will pick up your trash for free. If you can’t wait for one of these days, you can also hire a hard rubbish collector to come to your home. They can take care of all your unwanted items.
These collectors will likely charge you the amount of trash that you have. It will likely be a larger charge if your rubbish is heavier, or you have more of it. Of course, if you have less, you will likely be charged less.
E-Waste
E-waste is a bigger problem than most people are aware of. E-waste can include anything that is electronic, especially cell phones, computers, and laptops. Thes items are difficult to get rid of because of their unique characteristics.
If these items are brought to the landfill, they will leak chemicals that will get into the groundwater. These items are worse than your normal rubbish because of this leakage. There needs to be a recycling place for all these types of materials in each city.
Conclusion
Hard rubbish is difficult to get rid of without causing a big environmental issue. There are places that will pick it up for you, but it still all goes to the landfill. It can then decompose slowly, leaking contaminants into the soil.
If you don’t dispose of items properly, it can affect the wildlife in the area. If you leave hard trash in your yard, it can draw wildlife pests such as rats, mice, and bugs. It can also cause fire hazards if the trash contains chemicals such as paint and petrol.
You also need to be careful with other rubbish, as well. If plastics are not disposed of properly, they can also affect wildlife, especially sea life. Sea animals may eat the plastic and die, or they might get wrapped up in the plastic. If they get wrapped up, this can affect their ability to swim or fly and can end up with their deaths.
All rubbish needs to be taken care of and in a safe way. Australia has nearly 67 tonnes of rubbish sent to the landfill each year. 82% of that is hard rubbish that might have been able to be recycled. Much of the other rubbish could also be recycled, saving space in the landfills, and saving our groundwater.