Rubbish removal in Elizabeth Bay and throughout Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs relies heavily on recycling to be done optimally. Recycling is the way of the future – but it is also nothing new. While it’s true that recycling today is innovative and developing continuously, the concept has been around for a very long time.

Paper Recycling

More than two hundred years ago, in 1815, Australian built its first paper mill to use recycled material. At this time, recycled fabric rags were transformed into paper. This was just the beginning of recycling in Australia…

In the 1920s, Melbourne became the first Australian city to begin collecting waste paper from factories and households specifically for recycling purposes. Horse-and-cart collections of used newspapers began in the 1940s throughout much of Australia. The newspapers that were collected were reused or otherwise recycled to make materials for packaging purposes.

Fabric Recycling

Clothing and other household goods have been recycled and repurposed by Australian charities since the early 1900s.

Steel Recycling

In 1915, the BHP Steel Corporation began recycling steel scrap which was a by-product of industrial use. Similarly, car manufacturer Henry Ford demonstrated a commitment to recycling. He recycled his Model T Fords by recovering valuable materials. This enabled him to get the most from available resources as well as to save on costs.

Canterbury Council became the first Australian municipality to recover steel waste. It achieved this in 1975 via magnetic separation technology.

Can and Bottle Recycling

Community groups including the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides have collected aluminium cans and glass bottles for reuse and recycling for many years in Australia. In 1977, South Australia introduced legislation for beverage container deposit and cashback for participating. In the early 1980s, a major media campaign was undertaken, with children and community organisations targeted by the Cash-for-Cans program operated by Comalco. This involved a very successful aluminium can buy-back scheme.

Community Recycling

Australia was amongst the first countries worldwide to implement a national voluntary recycling program. Kerbside recycling bins were first introduced in Australia in Sydney in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This encouraged and enabled householders to easily separate steel cans, paper, aluminium, glass, milk containers, and cartons from other rubbish for recycling in day to day life, with regular collections run by the local council. It was very successful, with the rate of household recycling doubling between 1990 and 1993.

Recycling is becoming ever more important and an intrinsic aspect of rubbish removal in Elizabeth Bay and elsewhere in the Sydney Metropolitan Region.

 For convenient, affordable rubbish removal near you, call AA Adonis Rubbish Removals to come to your door dispose of your unwanted items in an environmentally responsible way. The Planet will thank you!