fbpx

Recycling creates jobs for people with disabilities

You are here » Home » General » Recycling creates jobs for people with disabilities
Last updated: 03/03/2023

IMPACT Community Services is supporting people with disabilities who want to be part of the local workforce through jobs at the city’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF), owned by Bundaberg Regional Council and managed by IMPACT Community Services.  

IMPACT provides around 27 jobs at the facility for employees with disabilities under the Australian Government’s Australian Disability Enterprise. All of the waste from Council’s yellow-top kerbside recycling bins is processed at the MRF, which is located on University Drive in Bundaberg. 

IMPACT’s manager of Australian Disability Enterprises Tim Van Kooten said the MRF provides a supportive work environment that allows workers to reach their full potential in this field of work. 
 
“The Material Recovery Facility has a happy and motivated workforce, and some of our employees have been with IMPACT for more than 30 years,” he said. 

Mr Van Kooten said each week the Material Recovery Facility processes around 38 council kerbside trucks of recycling – equal to around 114 tonnes of recyclable waste. 

“The content is hand sorted, baled and sold to be made into new products,” Mr Van Kooten said. 

“We also process commercial recycling, which is about 40 tonnes per week.” 

The MRF is also the home of IMPACT’s first Container Refund Point, opened in 2018 as part of the Containers For Change scheme, which encourages Queenslanders to recycle drink containers by offering a 10 cent refund for every eligible container returned. 

A second Container Refund Point, located at Green Solutions on Windermere Road, Qunaba, opened opened last year to keep up with the demand from Bundaberg residents and offer another convenient location for collecting container refunds. 

Since IMPACT Launched their first Container Refund Point at University Drive in 2018, they’ve recycled more than 14,200,000 containers and put around $1.5 million back into the pockets of Bundaberg residents. 

Please note: This website may contain references to, or feature images, videos, and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have passed away.

envelopephonemap-marker icon-angle icon-bars icon-times
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram