Inside the old Hume Materials Recovery Facility, which burnt down when batteries inside a waste compactor overheated. Photo: James Coleman.
You’ve heard it – and believed it – probably ever since your parents drilled it into you: leaving the lid on a plastic bottle when recycling it dooms it straight to landfill.
But as it looks to open a brand-new recycling facility in Hume, the ACT Government has confirmed that isn’t necessarily the case.
“Empty containers that have lids are usually processed and not sent to landfill,” a spokesperson told Region.
“Containers that still contain solids or liquids are identified at the hand-sorting line and removed as contamination.”
That also means rinsing bottles and removing lids helps improve recycling quality. However, forgetting once in a while does not automatically undo your efforts, as the real problem arises when containers are dirty or full.
Canberra has been without its own recycling plant since Boxing Day 2022, when a fire completely gutted the original Hume Materials Recovery Facility.
The blaze, triggered when batteries inside a waste compactor overheated, has forced the ACT to truck more than 46,000 tonnes of recycling interstate each year.
Demolition of the damaged site has now begun, clearing the way for a $26 million replacement, funded by the ACT and Federal governments.
Due to open in 2028, the new facility will process up to 115,000 tonnes of recyclables annually, around 50,000 tonnes more than the old plant. French-owned company Veolia has been awarded the contract to design, build and operate the site for the next 20 years.
The 2022 fire was traced back to overheated batteries. Photo: ACT Government.
The government says the technology will be far more advanced than what Canberrans had before.
From the moment recycling enters the plant, it will be moved through conveyor belts and monitored from a central control room.
At the start of the process, human sorters will search for and remove hazardous items such as chemicals and batteries.
From there, materials will be separated by a mix of heavy machinery and smart technology. Trommels, a sort of rotating screen, will divide material by size, air blowers will push aside paper and cardboard, and magnets will capture steel cans while other devices extract aluminium.
A render of Hume’s new Materials Recovery Facility, to open in 2028. Photo: ACT Government.
Cameras and sensors will identify plastics by their chemical composition and colour, while perforators will flatten and puncture bottles to make them easier to process.
Although much of the work is automated, a team of human operators will still be employed to oversee the process. The government describes optical sorters as “robots” that use computer learning to sort different types of plastic, with the potential for artificial intelligence to be introduced later.
“The current configuration aims to achieve high levels of purity and resource recovery,” the spokesperson said.
“AI technology is maturing and can be considered for future upgrades.”
But while the machines are getting smarter, the government is still urging households to focus on the basics.
It says separating packaging and keeping recycling loose in the bin is essential, as any items bagged in plastic are automatically treated as contamination and sent to landfill.
“Removing lids and rinsing bottles and containers before placing them in the recycling bin will assist in improving the quality of the sorted material.”
The items that belong in the yellow bin remain familiar: bottles, jars, paper, cardboard, cans and hard plastic containers. On the other hand, items like soft plastics, disposable coffee cups, nappies, food waste and clothing continue to cause problems and cannot be accepted.
A green-waste bin issued with a failed inspection notice. Photo: David Murtagh.
Batteries are also out, for reasons related to the 2022 blaze. In fact, since then, the ACT has introduced a random bin inspection program to improve awareness.
Each week, around 600 bins are checked, and households receive either a green smiley face or a red frown face tag depending on what is found. While the government says no fines are issued, bins containing hazardous waste may not be emptied.
The new facility has been designed with advanced fire detection and suppression systems to avoid a repeat of that disaster. It will also feature an education centre, giving schools and community groups the chance to see the sorting process in action.
For residents, the advice is straightforward: keep items loose, empty and as clean as possible. But if a bottle cap does slip through? Rest assured, it’s not the end of the world.
