I’ve written before about wanting to know whether I should bother to put plastic into my yellow bin. I finally learnt on October 24 (use this link) that

“Cleanaway recovered during the 2024 financial year 1,208 tonnes of rigid plastics (HDPE, PET, PP).”

This response was intensely disappointing because (a) it provided no statistics relating to Glenorchy. and (b) it only referred to plastic that had been “recovered”.

In plain English, “Recover means to separate the wanted stuff from the unwanted stuff”. So I still have no idea how much of that “recovered” plastic has been put to a new use.

So I’ve tried a different approach. I asked, during public question time, at the January 25 open council meeting if Council would provide me with information about the nature of the statistical report they receive now and then from Cleanaway. In other words, what were the statistics that Council received?

I was told that Council would ask Cleanaway for permission to do that. It certainly appears that Cleanaway is under no obligation to provide the public any data whatsoever about how successful they are in having their “recovered” plastics reused.

I look forward to Council’s (i.e. Cleanaway’s) response.