Where better to locate a second hand shop than at Council’s tip. Every day people with unwanted goods, useable or not, take them to tips adding to the volume of landfill. To break this cycle, at Kiama’s Minnamurra Waste Disposal Centre all goods which may be of use to someone else are retrieved, recorded on a computer data base and then resold.
The NSW Council’s ‘op shop’ earns around $22,000 a year from the sale of the goods. This helps to offset the cost of staffing the Centre and reduces costs and extends the life of the landfill. Long before landfill reduction became mandatory, staff at the site recognised that many useful goods and materials were being dumped at the tip.
Using recycled materials to landscape the area, staff began sorting old timber and selling it to offset costs. This led to the idea of a second hand shop where other useful items could be recycled. Waste Services Manager Tony Hardy said the ‘Revolve Centre’ attracts people from further afield than Kiama because it is well run and attractive in appearance.
“It is a nicer environment for staff and visitors,” he said. “Some people have stopped to ask where the tip is without realising they are here.”
A sorting area is set aside at the Centre. People are encouraged to help sort useful items from other waste through the incentive of tipping fees. Approximately 20 tonnes of material that would otherwise go to landfill every month is sold. As well as making money, Tony Hardy says a much higher unknown dollar value accrues from the innovation.
“It brings a benefit for the environment, it saves increasingly valuable land space and it saves on the running costs associated with landfill,” he said. “In addition, it has provided increased employment which is important in small towns.”
With the help of the shop, Kiama has already reached the target 60 percent reduction in landfill required by the Year 2000. Plans are afoot to expand the shop with the construction of a large American style barn building where browsers can peruse goods with more ease.
For further information contact Tony Hardy, telephone (02) 4232 0222.
