It may be a scheme that aims to help the environment, but more and more the Return and Earn reverse vending machine is becoming more of a problem for Dubbo residents when it comes to pollution.
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It’s the second time in as many week’s that we are having to report on the littler issues at the return and earn facility at Victoria Park.
Earlier in the month, just after Melbourne Cup day, a photo was posted on social media highlighting the large pile of rubbish left beside the machine at Victoria Park.
This week it’s not only the rubbish that’s being left beside the machine, it’s pools of water from sprinklers watering the park next door.
And from the sounds of it, it’s not something that’s going to be fixed anytime soon.
A spokesperson for council told the Daily Liberal while their had been an ‘irrigation fault’ that caused the pools of water near the machine, there was still one sprinkler that created an overspray which ‘may make contact with people at the machine’.
Grass care meant it had to be operational in a 360 degree motion and the use of the bore meant it had to be irrigated during the day to cater for the other parkes also watered from the Elston Park bore.
We’ve seen the 180 degree or 90 degree sprinklers used in gardens around Dubbo during the warmer months – can one of those not be used in place of a 360 degree one here?
And it’s not just the water, but the rubbish as well that’s still a cause for concern.
The Daily Liberal reported earlier this month that Cleanaway/ TOMRA had increased their cleaning of the site to three times a day, but, it still isn’t enough to stop the rubbish problems at the site.
Community members who use the men’s shed have to clean their site of rubbish on a regular basis after it blows under the gates.
And it’s not just boxes or bottles unable to be ‘returned’ that are a problem. It’s televisions, strollers and unwanted household items being left there as a dumping ground.
The return and earn facility isn’t a place to leave your rubbish. It’s a collection point for bottles and cans and one that should be used properly by the community.
- What’s on your mind? Have your say. Email your letters to the editor to lynn.rayner@fairfaxmedia.com.au
But, considering the problems the site is causing, maybe its time to have a look at the location and ways to deter residents from dumping rubbish at the site.
Is it time for that third bin to be installed? Or maybe some security cameras at the site?
Something needs to be done, because at the moment it’s a bit of an eyesore.
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