Toowoomba Regional Council, Media Release, 6 July 2021

Toowoomba Region residents’ enthusiasm for recycling expanded polystyrene (EPS) has seen more than 17 tonnes of the packaging material processed at the Greater Toowoomba Waste Management Facility (GTWMF) at O’Mara Road since May 2020.

Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) Water and Waste portfolio leader Cr Nancy Sommerfield said Council had been overwhelmed by residents’ keenness to recycle the bulky packaging material, prompting an upgrade of the O’Mara Road recycling machine and the imminent relocation of the original unit to the Kleinton Waste Management Facility.

“More than 17.3 tonnes of EPS have been processed at the GTWMF in a little over a year. This has seen 1,574m³ of EPS diverted from landfill, which is the equivalent of 25 average home swimming pools,” Cr Sommerfield said.

“Council has installed a new, larger capacity machine at the GTWMF in order to more efficiently process the volume of material delivered by residents.

“The new machine can process up to 200kg or 18m³ of EPS per hour, which is about double the capacity of the original machine.

“It also can handle sections of raw EPS that are up to almost two-and-a-half times larger than the previous machine could process. This means the material doesn’t need to be broken down before processing, which also reduces the dust and EPS particles that are produced.

“Operator safety has been improved as more of the process has been automated, which requires less manual handling by the operator.”

Cr Sommerfield said the original EPS recycling machine would be installed at the Kleinton Waste Management Facility during July.

“The machine uses heat and pressure to compress expanded polystyrene into ‘bricks’ that are sold for use in manufacturing flooring, cladding and other applications,” Cr Sommerfield said.

“Recycling the material has saved, and will continue to save, significant space in our landfill. It also helps reduce windblown litter and provides an ongoing revenue stream.”

Cr Sommerfield said residents also continued to support mattress and e-waste recycling.

“Four hundred and eighty tonnes of e-waste have been collected at the Region’s waste facilities since May 2019,” Cr Sommerfield said.

“Residents have also delivered 4,269 mattresses to the GTWMF since November 2020. This has saved 1,600m³ of landfill space and produced 53 tonnes of steel.”

For a full list of recyclable items and links to firms and organisations that offer recycling drop-off facilities, please visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/recycling