Auburn Street business Bi-Rite Electrical has managed to reduce its waste management costs by 75 per cent.
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The Goulburn store has joined the NSW Environmental Protection Authority's (EPA) 'Bin Trim' program.
The Bin Trim program helps and supports local businesses considering ways to maximise their recycling capabilities and minimise generating waste then sending their waste to landfill.
Bi-Rite Electrical sells white goods and electronics.
Their generated waste, including used cardboard and polystyrene packaging, was being picked up by Goulburn Mulwaree Council as general waste.
After receiving a free Bin Trim waste assessment from NSW EPA, they were able to reduce their total waste costs by 75 per cent, from $7155 to $1788 each year.
Earlier, they were paying for five council bins to be collected each week; which was later reduced to one.
They are now diverting the equivalent of 1000 wheelie bins' worth of waste from landfill each year.
They have increased their overall waste diversion to 80 per cent.
'That has been the biggest saving for us, as we managed to save over $5000 in a year by reducing the waste management cost.'
- Kim Gann, Bi-Rite Electrical
"That has been the biggest saving for us, as we managed to save over $5000 in a year by reducing the waste management cost," said Kim Gann from Bi-Rite Electrical.
"I have contacted my head office to make them aware about the changes we have implemented, if they would like to implement them in other stores as well," she said.
Another local business, Trappers Bakery on Hume Street, has received a rebate of $12,071 under the Bin Trim program.
Trappers Bakery installed a milk dispenser machine, which helps to avoid the use of plastic milk bottles.
According to EPA's waste assessment of Trappers, they have saved 26,000 two-litre milk bottles from landfill per year since installing their milk dispenser last February.
"We have spent around $25,000 to set up the milk dispensing system," said John Woodman from Trappers Bakery.
"Bin Trim came on board and offered us a rebate.
"It is an effective way of minimising waste."
They bakery has also replaced straws and plates made of plastic with paper ones in a bid to minimise their plastic waste.
Small and medium businesses account for 97.4 per cent of business in Australia and are believed to be one of the major contributors to the 6.5 million tonnes of business waste being sent to landfill each year.
Since the year 2014, NSW EPA has engaged more than 22,000 businesses and diverted more than 70,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.
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