December 11, 2013
Kingaroy’s new recycling centre has officially opened for business but word-of-mouth has seen customers coming in for weeks ahead of the event.
The RecycleLinks store – a project of disability employment group Link Community Services in partnership with the South Burnett Regional Council – is taking objects that would otherwise find their way into landfill and turning them into useful items for sale.
The warehouse is located in the former Gardening AdVentures premises on the corner of Kingaroy and Cornish streets.
The gardening supplies business, also run by Link Community Services, is running alongside the new operation.
CEO Leesa Osborne said there were two full-time staff at RecylceLinks as well as workers with a disability. Currently there are 10 people with a disability employed but at times there have been up to 20 workers, Leesa said.
Donated items can be dropped off at the store (the preferred option) or left in a special designated area at the Kingaroy Waste Transfer Station in Luck Road.
Items can also be picked up by arrangement by telephoning store manager Jason Clark on (07) 4162-5355.
The store is open from Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm, and from 8:00am-1:00pm on Saturdays.
“We’d been thinking about it for 12 months or more,” Link Community Services chairman John Kersnovski said.
‘We are always looking for jobs for people with a disability in the community, and there are just not enough.
“We saw the gardening business, and now recycling, as a way of creating opportunities.”
Mr Kersnovski said recycle shops had proven popular in other towns such as Toowoomba and Warwick.
“The idea was pioneered in Queensland by Logan City Council. It started there in a small way and is now a multi-million dollar business,” he said.
Mr Kersnovski is also a member of the Kingaroy State High School P&C which operates the regular South Burnett Mart Auctions in First Avenue.
He said the two groups were co-operating; people with damaged goods that cannot be sold at auction are being referred to the recycling store to stop the items ending up at the tip.
After they are donated to the store, the RecycleLinks workers repair the items for sale.
South Burnett Regional Council Manager for Environment and Waste Services Craig Patch said Council had called for expressions of interest to run a recycling shop.
RecycleLinks’ tender was successful and they were provided a space at the Kingaroy Waste Transfer Station.
Mr Patch said if the concept proved successful in Kingaroy it could be extended to other towns in the South Burnett.
“Let’s get Kingaroy up and running and then we’ll look at expanding the model to other places as well,” he said.
Mrs Osborne said Link Community Services could be interested in tendering for these other towns “if the need is there and we can prove it is viable”.
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