Have you ever found yourself facing your recycling bin, completely befuddled about whether or not you can put a particular item in it? You’re not alone. According to Planet Ark, nearly half of Australians find recycling confusing.  Australia’s recycling rules can seem horrendously complicated, but fortunately they are becoming more simple. In the meantime, here’s a brief guide to some of the golden rules of kerbside recycling, plus what to do with materials that can’t go in your recycling bin. What about things that can’t be recycled at home? Just because something can’t be recycled through kerbside collections, that doesn’t mean it can’t be recycled at all. New channels for recycling more complex items have been pioneered by organisations such as Planet Ark and TerraCycle, as well as by local councils, industry and government under schemes such as the Australian Packaging Covenant and the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. Free Terracycle recycling programs. Adapted from TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.com.au)

Have you ever found yourself facing your recycling bin, completely befuddled about whether or not you can put a particular item in it? You’re not alone. According to Planet Ark, nearly half of Australians find recycling confusing.  Australia’s recycling rules can seem horrendously complicated, but fortunately they are becoming more simple.

What about things that can’t be recycled at home?

Just because something can’t be recycled through kerbside collections, that doesn’t mean it can’t be recycled at all. New channels for recycling more complex items have been pioneered by organisations such as Planet Ark and TerraCycle, as well as by local councils, industry and government under schemes such as the Australian Packaging Covenant and the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. Free Terracycle recycling programs. Adapted from TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.com.au) Recycling is vital to reducing resource use and waste to landfill, and so getting it right is crucial.

Have you ever found yourself facing your recycling bin, completely befuddled about whether or not you can put a particular item in it? You’re not alone. According to Planet Ark,  nearly half of Australians find recycling confusing. Australia’s recycling rules can seem horrendously complicated, but fortunately they are becoming more simple. New channels for recycling more complex items have been pioneered by organisations such as Planet Ark and TerraCycle, as well as by local councils, industry and government under schemes such as the Australian Packaging Covenant and the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme. Free Terracycle recycling programs. Adapted from TerraCycle (http://www.terracycle.com.au). Recycling is vital to reducing resource use and waste to landfill, and so getting it right is crucial.

TerraCycle's founder and CEO, Tom Szaky, appeared on Sydney radio station Eastside FM's Friday Drive show to talk all things TerraCycle. Select the show from Friday July 1 and scroll to the 82:45 mark to hear Tom speak.

As a social business with a triple bottom line of ‘planet, people and profit’ TerraCycle’s motivation from its beginning as a worm fertiliser start-up to a global recycling company is to ‘eliminate the idea of waste’. Through nationwide collection programs called Brigades, that are free and accessible, TerraCycle’s purpose is to recycle ‘unrecyclable’ waste streams that others deem challenging, impossible or unsavoury and provide a cyclical solution through reuse, upcycling and recycling. TerraCycle does not believe in linear solutions such as incinerating waste or waste-to-landfill.

Looking for a fun DIY craft you can do with your little ones? Try out these 3 easy ways to upcycle your Whole Kids packaging with just a few materials.