There’s an old adage that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I cannot help but think that this has correlation to organics recycling and contamination – is it time to solve contamination, one contaminant at a time? Do we need to start focusing attention and action on specific contamination problem areas, providing focus and attention to specific items instead of broadly speaking of contamination as a wide-ranging issue and hoping that will help solve the myriads of issues?
Recently, I visited an organics’ recycling facility in Melbourne. A facility that is well regarded for best practice and leading-edge operations in processing and material handling. Yet, despite all of this, contamination is easily visible and pervasive. The biggest visible problem – plastic. Despite continuing significant investment by most organics recycling processors into managing contamination, the problem is not getting resolved. Perhaps we need to start consuming the contamination elephant one bite at a time. At AORA, we have started advocating on the contamination issue in just that way.
Batteries – not a week goes by without another disastrous fire in a recycling facility or truck that has been caused by the inappropriate disposal of batteries. AORA joined with ACOR and eight other peak industry bodies in October 2024 with an urgent call on Australian, State and Territory Governments to implement a range of measures to reduce the battery fire risk including, but not limited to, prohibiting the disposal of batteries in household and commercial waste. There should be penalties for non-compliance and the establishment of easily accessible collection points for safe disposal
of loose and embedded batteries across Australia.
Read more: AORA looks into state harmonisation
Glass – AORA released its glass position paper in February 2025. Glass is a problem within organic processing facilities. It can break easily when not handled with care and once that happens, segregating it up becomes difficult and dangerous. Unfortunately, when it does find its way into an organics stream, it is either broken on tipping into the truck or it will often be broken (shattered) when the truck delivering the organics unloads its contents onto a concrete floor. Once this occurs, removal becomes almost impossible. Shards of glass are hard to see and impossible to remove completely from the organics. It becomes a health and safety issues risk for those operators dealing with it. Glass is a serious contamination problem within an organics processing facility for all of the aforementioned reasons. Furthermore, no one wants to see shards of glass in their compost when they come to use it on their garden, lawns, fruit trees or vegetable patch.
AORA’s Better Compost with Smart Bans position paper was released in October 2024. It calls for bans on (1) Plastic fruit and vegetable food labels, (2) Plastic bread seals and (3) Styrofoam food packaging. It also wants better disposal options on a range of other contamination including disposable wipes and all plastic packaging.
Understanding how best to dispose of a ‘waste’ item is not too difficult. Local councils can provide information and assistance to their households with what can go into what kerbside collection bin, and they are a great place to start for any household. The various State governments also have a range of information and guides available, which something as simple as a Google search can help lead the way.
The Recycle Mate app is another great option. By using a smartphone camera to take a photo of an item, the app can aid in finding the right disposal option in the local area.
Of course, the contamination issue is not just an organics recycling industry issue. We need everyone on board to help resolve this – the Federal government, State governments, regulators like the EPAs, Local government, and the community/general public. If we do not collectively take responsibility and work in the best interests of all recycling industries, including organics, the problem will not go away. Yes, we need broad-based, recurring education programs that encourage and reward best behaviour in recycling. The rewards are there for all if we succeed – socially, economically and environmentally. But perhaps the starting point is to focus on one contamination issue (bite) at a time.
John McKew is the national executive officer for the Australian Organics Recycling Association