A waste-wise initiative offered by Advance Diversity Services (ADS) in 2020 will help new arrivals in the Barton electorate match their good intentions and commitment with responsible recycling practices.

The Waste Wise Project, which received funding from the AusIndustry Business Grants Hub on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Energy in December, will extend ADS’s existing involvement with Clean Up Australia Day and have a strong a strong focus on reducing waste and litter in the local environment through practical activities.

‘ADS clients are new migrants and refugees who’ve often had no past recycling experience or knowledge of different recycling systems outside their country of origin,’ said Anthony Scerri, Manager of Settlement and Community Services for ADS.

‘They want to do the right thing but, for people who are learning English, knowing what to put in which bin and what’s recyclable can be a struggle. We want to help them with this.’

Mr Scerri said the Waste Wise Project will involve Nepalese, Bangladeshi, Arabic, Thai and Chinese local community members in a Clean Up Australia Day activity in Hogben Park in Kogarah, and provide information about recycling and waste collection in people’s language of origin. Support from ADS’s bilingual staff will also be crucial to fostering their understanding of responsible waste management.

Participants will be given a two-compartment bin (general waste and recyclable items) to help

them apply what they’ve learnt from the Clean Up Australia Day event. A follow-up phone survey will determine how effective the learning has been, and ADS will offer people further education if needed.

Bus trips to the Rockdale Resource Recovery Centre or similar centres will give participants further insight into recycling and the opportunity to ask questions or clarify their new understanding of responsible waste disposal.

‘We’re happy to be sharing practical knowledge with new arrivals about managing household waste, recycling, and “living with less”, said Mr Scerri. ‘Our ultimate goal is to reduce litter and waste in our local community.’

Caption: Members of the Nepalese community who took part in a in a Clean Up Australia Day activity in Hogben Park in Kogarah in 2018. Advance Diversity Services is planning a similar event in 2020 as part of its Waste Wise Project.