Reckless disposal of oil causes messy spill

It was the neighbouring properties and rubbish truck that were affected when a local resident threw an oil container into their kerbside bin.

The oil spilled all over the JJ Richards truck and nearby driveways as the bin was emptied, leaving behind a very sticky mess.

Mayor Greg Williamson said placing motor oil in recycling or general waste bins was prohibited by council as a spill had many flow-on affects for the waste collection process.

“There are obvious environmental impacts, but also safety concerns for our staff, and lost time for JJ Richards as they need to clean the truck before continuing the collection service,” Mayor Williamson said.

“Incorrect disposal of oil into a recycling bin can also be hazardous at our Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), as many items are manually sorted by staff,” he said.

“If oil spills through a recycling load that is taken to the MRF, it can easily contaminate the whole load and all of those valuable recyclables, which otherwise would have been sold to market, will be sent to landfill instead.”

Up to 20 litres of motor oil can be disposed of free-of-charge at any of council’s Rural Transfer Stations, as well as the Paget Waste Management Centre.

Each of these locations has an oil bay especially for the disposal of motor oil.

For locations and opening times of facilities visit mackay.qld.gov.au/wasteopeningtimes

For the full guide on how to dispose of an extensive range of household items head to www.mackay.qld.gov.au/wastedisposal