- Latest News
Congratulations Whyalla … you did yourself proud on Clean Up Australia Day.
At Civic Park there were more than 100 people and many groups that registered for the Council-organised clean-up day on Sunday, March 4 while a number of community groups held their own clean-up days including the schools which got busy cleaning up on Friday.
Just as encouraging was the sight of people all over Whyalla cleaning up their own backyards and houses as the City of Whyalla put on a half-price waste and free green waste day at the Mount Laura Waste and Resource Recovery Centre.
More than 200 cars rolled up to the waste centre on Sunday to take advantage of this day. When you compare this to a regular Sunday when about 30 cars generally turn up, this was an amazing response.
CEO Chris Cowley, pictured, was one of many Council workers who put in the hard yards at the waste centre to help keep the big line of cars moving on the day. Cars were lined up back to Iron Knob Road for most of the day with the Council workers skipping their lunch breaks to keep things moving smoothly.
“Thanks to everyone that contributed, it was a great day and a great response from the public,” Chris said.
“Full marks to all the Council workers down here at the waste centre and those out at the clean-up day at Civic Park … everyone pitched in.
“I know everyone at the waste centre skipped lunch and normal breaks to deal with the huge workload and their commitment was really appreciated.
“We had a bit of a wait on the gate but everyone was really good, really patient and we got through a massive load of waste.
“It was fantastic to see everyone cleaning up the city and making Whyalla an awesome place to live.”
At the waste centre there was a total of 22.36 tonnes of mixed waste processed, 4.08 tonnes of steel extracted for recycling and 54 loads of green waste delivered to be mulched.
A lot of the trucks that came through were from the Civic Park clean up day where residents turned out and then scattered to clean up areas of Whyalla. Council Project Control Officer and organiser for the Whyalla Clean Up Australia Day, Jo McGrath said the response from the public was again positive and the next generation of community-minded people was now starting to come through.
“We had people there who have been coming for years and now they are starting to bring their children and their grandchildren,” Jo said.
“This made it a really good atmosphere and the rubbish picked up definitely made an impact.
“People were coming back with bags full of rubbish, it was a great day.”
The groups that turned out to help included the Whyalla & District 4WD Club, Friends of the Conservation Park, Mount Laura Lions Club, Whyalla Apex Club, Centacare and Zero Waste Whyalla which set up a table to show how waste can be managed and recycled.
