Just over 80 per cent of the waste collected as a result of the Ironman event in Port Macquarie will be recycled due to good planning.
Ironman approached Aus Blue Bins and asked to help devise a way to improve the waste management around the event.
Aus Blue Bins had 43 skip bins dotted around the course on race day in addition to other bins associated with the event.
Aus Blue Bins operations manager John O’Shea said they put in place a procedure to capture the best possible way to recycle as much of the waste as possible.
A total of 62 cubic metres of waste was collected.
That was made up of 22 cubic metres of plastic bottles, 14 cubic metres of PLA cups, 14 cubic metres of cardboard and 12 cubic metres of general waste.
PLA is an alternative to plastic, which is made from cornstarch or potato starch.
Mr O’Shea said he couldn’t wait to get the results back to Ironman.
He said the volunteers out on the stations did their best to sort the waste on-site, assisting to make it a cleaner, greener event.
Oz Blue Bins started collecting the bins at 4pm on Sunday, May 5 and all the bins were collected by 7 o’clock the next morning.
It took three staff two days to sort the material.
The cardboard will be set to paper, packaging and recycling company Visy.
Port Plastics and Tooling plans to turn the PLA cups into bottle top openers and potentially carry trays for coffee cups.
The business is also looking to make a bench seat out of drink bottles to be donated back to Port Macquarie.
Port Plastics and Tooling chief executive officer Richard Mainey said recycling plastics had been his passion for as long as he could remember.
Mr O’Shea said Aus Blue Bins worked collectively with other local businesses to come up with a waste solution.
“We are just three businesses trying to make an improvement in our region, especially the waste management sector,” he said.
Those businesses Aus Blue Bins, Port Plastics and Tooling and DONE (Doppio or Nothing Espresso) Coffee.
Meanwhile, Aus Blue Bins owners Steve and Denise Pedrick are committed to help address the growing issue of waste to landfill.