Records are made to be broken and that is exactly what happened during ChemClear’s recent Tasmanian collection run.
An unprecedented 5,532 litres of agricultural and veterinary chemical were disposed of by 58 dedicated waste holders in a superb effort. Since ChemClear began collections in the Apple Isle in November 2006, four have taken place but the numbers obtained this time around represent just how popular the program has become down south.
While the figures have fluctuated significantly, the previous best amount retrieved was just the below the 4,000 mark.
ChemClear provides a wonderful national service to waste holders, with the retrieval team travelling between shire councils all over Australia to help collect and safely dispose of both group one and two chemicals. Group one chemicals are currently-registered product from participating manufacturers and are accepted free of charge, while group two involves materials that are unlabelled, unregistered or obsolete, and include a fee-per-litre for disposal.
This time around, 3,241 litres of group one was collected (32 waste holders), 75 per cent of which came from primary producers. A total of 2,532 litres of group two product was disposed of (26 waste holders), with 48 per cent of this coming from primary producers and 39 per cent from resellers.
National program manager Lisa Nixon was proud to announce that ChemClear is poised to make regular visits to the state.
“ChemClear collections in Tasmania are now set to occur once a year under our service,” she said.
“This is because of a good partnership between us and our service deliverer Chemsal, which collects household hazardous waste from the state at the same time. This allows for ChemClear to be a ‘regular’ yearly service, which helps farmers get unwanted chemicals out of their sheds and off their properties for safe disposal.”
Waste holder Ewan Denney brought in over seven litres of group two chemical to the Ulverstone site and was thrilled with the service that he and wife Sue received.
“I think you guys did a really good job!” he said.
“ChemClear is a really great thing to do, farmers tend to accumulate quite a few chemicals, whether they ‘go out of fashion‘ or you buy too many of them and we were very happy with our experience.”
Waste holders are also starting to embrace the new ChemClear SMS notification service, with Mr and Mrs Denney glad to receive both pre and post-collection information and feedback.
“I thought the SMS service was fine, we think it’s a great idea.”
For local resident Rose Boltong, it was the convenience of the ChemClear program that added to its appeal.
“It’s a perfect service for us, we needed to get rid of them and Ulverstone is our local council so it made it easy,” she said.
“I rate my ChemClear experience highly, it was really good and it’s definitely something I’ll be using in the future!”
Central Coast Council site contact Eddie Morse was pleased with his local collection and is looking forward to hosting more down the track.
“The collection went very well, we had no problems at all!” he said.
“The feedback I have received is that the ones that came in were really grateful to get rid of their chemicals. It’s just a great service for everyone.”
To register for the ChemClear program, call the national hotline on 1800 008 182 or log onto the website at www.chemclear.com.au.