THE Bathurst region has just one landfill site and that is how it is going to stay, making it vital for residents to get on board with recycling.
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In years gone by, people didn't hesitate to get rid of old items around the house by taking them to the tip.
But now it's a very different story, with Bathurst Regional Council's acting director of Engineering Services, Russell Deans, saying that new initiatives aim to limit the amount going into landfill.
"Council estimates the current lifespan of the Waste Management Centre is 30-plus years and has no plans to create another landfill site," he said.
"Each new initiative undertaken by council to remove additional waste from landfill increases the lifespan of the facility."
One such initiative people will remember was the move to the three-bin system in April 2016, which saw households receive a green bin for food and garden waste.
That program has been a huge success.
Prior to its introduction, more than 60 per cent of the waste in the red-lid general waste bin was organic food or garden waste.
"In the first three years the green bin system was in place, more than 15.5 million kilograms of food and garden waste was diverted from landfill for composting," Mr Deans said. "This waste is transformed into a valuable resource, being turned into compost. It also has the added benefit of reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from the Waste Management Centre."
The Waste Management Centre is also trialling textile recycling to keep clothing out of landfill.
Waste management coordinator, Dr Ray Trevorah, said there are lots of opportunities "to improve and have a good resource recovery system" in Bathurst.
He is working towards the goal of a circular economy, which is all about preventing the loss of resources.
"You're buying an item, you use it, then it's either recycled, repurposed or reused; it goes back into the supply chain, the minerals that arise from making those items go back to the start again and you essentially have a continuous loop of a resource where things aren't lost," Dr Trevorah said.
"Aluminium for example could be recycled infinitely, there's no product loss in the recycling of aluminium."
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The waste management centre is aiming to divert as much waste from landfill as possible, which relies on visitors to the tip taking some personal responsibility.
Dr Trevorah said "sorting is the first stage in driving recycling".
"We do our best to advertise what can go where and our gatehouse do a great job letting people know when they have items," he said.
"If anyone has any questions they can give us a call and we're happy to discuss recycling and what items can be recycled."
There are specialist recycling facilities available at the Waste Management Centre's Community Recycling Centre, which accepts batteries, fire extinguishers, flouro globes and tubes, gas bottles, motor and other oils, paint and smoke detectors.
Mr Deans said other services, like the annual chemical collection service, the operation of the Junktion and participation in the Garage Sale Trail encourage residents to re-think waste and reduce the amount of product going into landfill.
