That’s why the Rana Environmental principal consultant happily accepted a $233,764 Bin Trim program grant from the NSW Government.

‘’Reduced waste to landfill, reduced waste disposal costs and it’s free for businesses to participate. It’s a no-brainer,’’ Mr Gibson said.

The Bin Trim program also paid dividents for the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre and Wollongong Town Hall.

Supported by Gwynneville-based consultancy Rana Environmental, the organisation reduced waste to landfill by a third, doubled the capacity of recycling and saved $4950 or 23 per cent of their annual waste.

IPAC facilities manager Steven Robinson said the Bin Trim program was invaluable in evaluating what the organisation had already achieved in combining the waste services of the sites [IPAC & Wollongong Town Hall] and how to continue to get it right.

‘’We reduced our general waste bin capacity by a third and doubled our recycling bin capacity. This reduced cost and set us on to our target of minimum land fill and maximum recycling,’’ Mr Robinson said.

The biggest achievement though was the positive effect changes have had on the staff.

‘’Everyone became aware of exactly what they were throwing out and where that was going,’’ he said.

‘’Staff are now strongly supportive of our waste management program and objectives.

‘’They are very proactive on ensuring that each bin is used correctly and that there is minimum impact on the environment. There is also a sense of pride on what we have achieved.’’

NSW environment minister Mark Speakman said this was the second round of the government’s successful Bin Trim grants program which provided more than 7000 assessments to small-to-medium businesses across the state in the first round.

Mr Speakman said the first round of assessments identified a potential 555 million litres of waste that could be diverted to landfill each year and save an average $3000.