Northern Beaches’ residents are being urged to adopt a new approach to recycling to reduce waste.

Northern Beaches Council Administrator Dick Persson AM said approximately 15 per cent of household waste sent to landfill could have been recycled.

“Northern Beaches’ residents recycle more waste than the average NSW household but there is still too much recyclable material ending up in landfill.

“Sadly, these items are ending up in landfill rather than being re-processed and made into new items.

“There has never been more of a global focus on cutting down on what we throw away and Council is now calling on Northern Beaches households to do more.

“Our residents are highly committed to preserving the environment but there’s still a need to change behaviours when it comes to managing waste,” Mr Persson said.

The new initiative encourages the community to think about what they can recycle across the entire house and not just the kitchen.

That can include plastic and glass bottles, cardboard packaging and metal aerosol cans from the bathroom, laundry, home office and garage.

“With a small amount of effort we can all throw away less and give recyclable waste a new life,” Mr Persson said.

If we were able to recycle the remaining 15 per cent of recyclables currently ending up in landfill, we would save 1.22 million wheelie bins, 295 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water and greenhouse gas emissions equating to 6,474 cars off the road.

Council is offering our residents a free set of handy recycling bags to help them sort out their recycling in the home and carry it out to the bins.

For more information on recycling, and to request your free set of bags please call 9942 2732 or email wasteeducation@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au