We live in a time when more demand than ever is being placed on the world’s natural resources. This makes it imperative that we are efficient at reusing resources as much as possible. A new deal struck by NAWMA with paper manufacturer Norske-Skog will see all paper collected in yellow-lid recycling bins from NAWMA’s three constituent councils being recycled into newspaper paper-roll and cardboard packaging. The initiative, which will take effect from September 2018, will see paper recycled in Australia rather than overseas.
Every day trucks from NSW come to Adelaide to deliver paper-rolls that make the Messenger and Advertiser newspapers and return empty. As part of the new deal, these trucks will collect paper sorted from yellow-lid recycling bins at NAWMA’s Edinburgh Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), which handles up to 60 tonnes of paper per day. The recovered paper will be transported to NSW to recycle into new packaging and paper-rolls, which will be brought back to Adelaide as part of the trucks’ regular run.
The initiative has several positive aspects including:
- extending the useful life of a valuable resource (paper), meaning less trees are destroyed for paper manufacture
- creating new jobs at NAWMA’s Edinburgh MRF
- reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with transport as resources are kept in Australia for processing, not sent overseas.
