Ipswich residents are being thanked for embracing a recycling awareness campaign aimed at raising awareness of and reducing contamination rates in yellow-lid household bins.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding said the Let’s Get it Sorted campaign had delivered positive results, reducing the number of unsuitable waste items being placed in yellow-lid bins.
“Council ran a city-wide educational marketing campaign, targeted bin inspections and a trial to optimise recycling at apartment complexes,” Mayor Harding said.
“After the campaign, council conducted community engagement which included more than 1,000 residents across 67 suburbs.
“Ninety-six per cent of respondents indicated that they knew the correct way to recycle household items, while more than 90 per cent said recycling was important to them.
“This shows that our community is engaged and thinking about how best to tackle recycling not only in their household, but across our city.
“The community engagement for the campaign ran in two phases in 2025 – the first phase ran between April to May while the second phase went from September to October.
“Even between the phases themselves, there have been some marked improvements. For instance, during the first phase, only 27 per cent of respondents had used a battery collection bin to dispose of batteries, while in the second phase, that number jumped to 38 per cent.
“This not only keeps waste from ending up in landfill but decreases the risk of fires in our waste trucks or recovery centres.
“Also notable is an increase in charitable donations – that grew from 70 per cent to 74 per cent between the phases, reflecting the giving nature of our city, as well as saving items that can have a new home from ending up in landfill.
“Better recycling habits ensure that items don’t unnecessarily end up in landfill, which is great news for the environment and the ratepayers’ hip pocket as every tonne of waste sent to landfill incurs the State Government’s Waste Levy.
“While this campaign has now wrapped up, council will continue to deliver ongoing education and resources to residents keep looking for ways to reduce waste in Ipswich and divert as much waste away from landfill as possible.
“Our community is making great progress, helping council to recycle better and reduce landfill, we can build an even healthier environment while saving money for ratepayers – a win for all of us.”
Ipswich is one of 26 councils who shared in over $13 million in funding from the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation to support waste reduction, recycling and behaviour change under the Let’s Get it Sorted Partnership Program.
Ipswich was awarded $717,928 to improve how the community uses yellow-lid recycling bins.
The initiative was supported by the Queensland Government’s Recycling and Jobs Fund.
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>> Free compost bins and worm farms to help Ipswich households cut waste
