“It was great to make a positive impact for the environment and we also had the opportunity to socialise and learn a little more about each other.”
“It was great to make a positive impact for the environment and we also had the opportunity to socialise and learn a little more about each other.”
Cleanaway teams from across the country were up and about in Clean Up events leading up to Clean Up Australia Day, 3rd March 2024.
While teams differed in size and location, each team made an impact in their own way. Apart from doing our bit for the environment, we took the opportunity to strengthen ties and build bonds amongst our teams, customers and the community.
Here are the highlights of our 2024 clean ups:
Queensland
Our small but mighty skips team in Brisbane did their clean up event at the Archerfield Wetlands and surrounds, one of many Cleanaway teams that chose a nearby site to clean up in the days leading up to Clean Up Australia Day, 3 March.
Branch Manager Mark Stevens said, “Great weather and our shared ‘espirit de corps’ made for a winning formula. This suburb, known as Willawong, is an Aboriginal word meaning the junction of two creeks. Fantastic effort by the team and a load full of rubbish was successfully removed out of this beautiful area.”
Our Morningside Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) team headed out early for Clean Up Australia Day before the day got too hot. They then came back to the depot and sorted through the items collected. The team limited what went into general waste and all CDS material found will be donated to a charity of the team’s choice and all cardboard that can be recycled went into the onsite cardboard bin.
Western Australia
It was great day where our WA projects team and mechanics took some rare time out to clean up the site around them. The team collected rubbish along Beach Street and ended up collecting 11 bags of rubbish along the 600m strip!
Administration Officer Elina Craig said, “It was great to make a positive impact for the environment and we also had the opportunity to socialise and learn a little more about each other.”
The IWS team in WA cleaned up the back carpark and public area around the office at Goddard Street. Resource Operations Coordinator Carmen Colley said, “There were only a few of us, but together we made a difference. Tasks are always more fun when you do it with work mates.”
New South Wales
Cleanaway teams at Erskine Park got together for a Clean Up Australia site event where 40 volunteers and 30 bags of rubbish were collected.
The clean up was a collaborative effort involving our Administration, Customer Service, Sales, Finance and Operations teams who targeted our Erskine Park depot and its surrounds. We also made a donation to the Starlight Children’s Foundation as part of the day.
Our Rockdale Transfer Station team diverted from their Kaizen event to gather their gloves and PPE. Together they went out and about to tidy the surrounds of Rockdale Transfer Station.
Members of TOMRA Cleanaway NSW team joined Return and Earn partners from the NSW EPA and Exchange for Change for a Clean Up Australia Day event. The group of 19 volunteers cleaned up at Nurragingy Reserve on Darug Country in the Blacktown City Council LGA.
Our small yet dedicated team in Coffs Harbour came together in collaboration with one of our customers, Coffs Harbour Aboriginal Land Council. We were able to remove a whopping 2.4 tonnes of waste! Accumulated due to illegal dumping, our team helped start the journey to restore the site back to its traditional state.
Victoria
A group from the St Kilda Road office including members of the marketing and communications, bids and tenders, commercial and legal teams set off with our gloves and garbage bags to clean up Chapel Street. Even CEO Mark Schubert rolled up his sleeves and joined the team for the clean up.
Marketing Manager Jacquelyn Whelan said, “Chapel Street can become quite the party scene at night and this was evident in the type of rubbish we found, with cigarette butts galore and a broken high heel in the bushes. We even found a full instrumental set including a tambourine and maracas!”
2024 marks Cleanaway’s eight year partnering with Clean Up Australia. We are a proud Silver Partner of Clean Up Australia and are committed to making a sustainable future possible together.