Gunnedah Recyclit is celebrating a dramatic drop in the number of needles dumped in recycling bins.
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In late July, Recyclit supervisor Dave Cole told the Namoi Valley Independent the centre was getting between 100 and 150 needles a week, with the majority of needles found on Wednesdays.
To show the community what sort of risks the recycling workers were faced with, Mr Cole had posted a photo of a pile of needles gathered over a three-week period on the Gunnedah Recyclit page. Gunnedah responded with disgust.
Five months on, Mr Cole said the number of needles now coming through the facility each week had dropped to an average of 10 to 15 needles.
“We have noticed quite a significant reduction in needles coming through our recycling,” Mr Cole said.
“It is a huge drop.
“After we went through the paper and we put it down on Facebook we started to notice that it started to decline very quickly and it seems to have levelled out.”
In the first half of the year, Mr Cole said there had been two suspected needle sticks, but there had been none since the number of needles dropped.
Talking regularly to the recycling workers allows Mr Cole to keep an eye on what is coming through the facility.
“They’ll always come and tell me when a few [needles] are coming through,” he said.
He said it was “never going to be 100 per cent”, but they were happy with the drop and hoped it would stay that way.
“We’re just gonna keep putting it out there, just to remind people,” he said.
Community public sharps bins can be found in the following areas:
• ?Vernados Car Park, Little Barber Street (behind Crazy Clarks )
• ?McAndrew Park.
Containers less than 1.4 litres are acceptable for these bins.
Location of bins is not permanent.
Single use bins are located at:
• ?Brocks Court, Wolseley Oval (mounted on toilet block)
• ?Mornington Park, Anzac Parade (mounted on toilet block)
• ?Gunnedah Community Health
• ?Gunnedah Hospital
• ?Hagley/Osmond Chemist
• ?Karen Carter Chemist
For more information on sharps bins, contact Geoff Phillips or John Henry on 6740 2130.