Hamilton Island showcases its new waste management and recycling facility 

Hamilton Island today celebrated its new waste management and recycling facility which includes a glass crushing plant to process the waste glass containers consumed by the thousands of visitors to the island’s resort each year. All in time for World Environment Day on Sunday, June 5.

The glass crushing plant is a partnership between Hamilton Island, the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) and the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) and provides a local use for recycled crushed glass (RCG) negating the need to transport the material to the mainland at great economic and environmental expense.

Whilst the initial focus has been on glass, the financial and environmental benefits of local processing have resulted in the Island putting in place a baler for plastic containers, cans, paper and cardboard.Hamilton Island CEO Glenn Bourke said using recycled crushed glass for drainage projects and on garden beds makes environmental and economic sense for the Island.
“We now use the collected glass containers locally which saves around $10,000 per tonne in the cost of shipping material back to the mainland for processing,” said Mr Bourke.

General Manager of the PSF Jenny Pickles said Hamilton Island’s recycling plant provides a template for other island communities which incur major costs from transportation back to recycling centres on the mainland.

“Recycled crushed glass can be used in many applications including drainage and pipe bedding and we have just released specifications for its use in the civil construction industry. If councils incur transportation costs to move waste glass containers long distances by road, rail or ship or have to pay for the cost of landfill then installing a local processing plant will save them money. In addition, using RCG as a replacement for sand reduces the extraction of virgin sand, which preserves our pristine environment.”

“We are delighted that the funding for the glass crushing plant has acted as a catalyst for much wider recycling activities for plastic, cans paper, cardboard and organic waste further reducing transport costs for the Island,” said Ms Pickles.

Tamara O’Shea, General Manager, Waste Reform Division, Department of Environment and Resource
Management said: “This is a fitting project to launch in the lead up to World Environment Day. We are committed to supporting initiatives that protect our natural resources, reduce waste to landfill, encourage smarter cost-saving waste solutions in Queensland businesses, and reduce the financial burden on communities. This project ticks all of these boxes.

-ENDS

Media contacts:
Packaging Stewardship Forum - Sally Haysom, (02) 6270 9018, sally.haysom@afgc.org.au
Hamilton Island representative - Susan Sullivan, 0412 365 122, sboyd@infrontcommunications.com.au

For images: please view www.hamiltonisland.com.au/imagelibrary (in the ‘general’ category)
Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF)The PSF is a forum of the Australian Food and Grocery Council. It works with government and industry partners across Australia to deliver recycling, litter reduction and education programs on behalf of its members, Australia’s major beverage companies and their packaging suppliers. PSF members are Amcor, Bundaberg Brewed Drinks, Coca-Cola Amatil, Fosters, Golden Circle, Lion Nathan, Owens-Illinois, Schweppes and Visy.

Hamilton Island is located off the Queensland coast of Australia, within the Whitsunday Islands at the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Here visitors can experience everything that is great about Australia – natural landscapes, calm turquoise waters, secluded beaches, beautiful weather, fascinating coral reefs, diverse flora and fauna. Hamilton Island offers a wide range of accommodation options, including award winning qualia, restaurants, bars, pools and shops, not to mention 65 activities and all within a short direct flight from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Cairns. There are also great connections from other
Australian cities.

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