Lake Macquarie City Council seeks top phone recycler title at MobileMuster Local Government Awards

Lake Macquarie residents have recycled 158 kilograms of mobile phones, phone batteries and accessories in the last 12 months and, as a result, the council is in the running for a Top Recycler award in this year’s MobileMuster Local Government Awards.

Council’s sustainability manager Dean Chapman said council was dedicated to reducing the amount of electronic waste that goes into landfill, and the city’s community recycling stations are a crucial part of those recycling efforts.

“The work of both council and Lake Macquarie residents in recycling this many mobile phones is commended – we’re one of only two council areas outside of Sydney to be recognised as a top collector at this point in time,” Mr Chapman said.

“Simply drop off your old mobile, along with any accessories including chargers, at one of the community recycling stations located at six Lake Mac Libraries, council’s administration building, and council's works depot at Boolaroo, and you can help reduce problem waste to landfill.”

Council has been involved in the MobileMuster program for 10 years.

MobileMuster partners with 360 councils around Australia to help divert thousands of tonnes of non-renewable resources out of landfill each year, and back into the manufacture of new products.

The awards are based on the council who has collected the most mobile phone components for recycling between May 1, 2016, and  April 30, 2017.

The top collector in each state and territory as well as a top collector per capita will be announced at the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) national general assembly in Canberra, in June.

It means councils have until the end of this month to organise their final collections so they can be counted towards their total collections.

The top five collectors in NSW are: