Hamilton Island

The glass crushing plant is a partnership between Hamilton Island, the Australian Food and Grocery Council's Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) and the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) and provides a local use for recycled crushed glass (RCG) negating the need to transport the material to the mainland at great economic and environmental expense.

Whilst the initial focus has been on glass, the financial and environmental benefits of local processing have resulted in the Island putting in place a baler for plastic containers, cans, paper and cardboard.

Hamilton Island CEO Glenn Bourke said using recycled crushed glass for drainage projects and on garden beds makes environmental and economic sense for the Island.

"We now use the collected glass containers locally which saves around $10,000 per tonne in the cost of shipping material back to the mainland for processing," said Mr Bourke.

General Manager of the PSF Jenny Pickles said Hamilton Island's recycling plant provides a template for other island communities which incur major costs from transportation back to recycling centres on the mainland.

"Recycled crushed glass can be used in many applications including drainage and pipe bedding and we have just released specifications for its use in the civil construction industry. If councils incur transportation costs to move waste glass containers long distances by road, rail or ship or have to pay for the cost of landfill then installing a local processing plant will save them money. In addition, using RCG as a replacement for sand reduces the extraction of virgin sand, which preserves our pristine environment."

"We are delighted that the funding for the glass crushing plant has acted as a catalyst for much wider recycling activities for plastic, cans paper, cardboard and organic waste further reducing transport costs for the Island" said Ms Pickles.

Tamara O'Shea, General Manager, Waste Reform Division, Department of Environment and Resource Management said: "This is a fitting project to launch in the lead up to World Environment Day. We are committed to supporting initiatives that protect our natural resources, reduce waste to landfill, encourage smarter cost-saving waste solutions in Queensland businesses, and reduce the financial burden on communities. This project ticks all of these boxes."

Photo (L to R): Glenn BourkeHamilton Island CEO; Rachel D'Arcy, Team Leader Waste Reform, Department of Environment and Resource Management; Warren Muller, Director, Program Development, Waste Reform, Department of Environment and Resource Management; Gavin Herholdt, General Manager, Corporate Services, Hamilton Island; and Chris Jeffreys, PSF Program Manager, Glass Recovery and Recycling.