The Wagga Wagga Marketplace is now a collection point for Lids4Kids!
Empowering Communities, One Lid at a Time! Drop of your lids to our collection point, opposite Lucky Crow!
Lids4Kids Australia was founded as a grass-roots 100% volunteer project in May 2019 by Tim Miller, a Canberra-based full-time house Dad with three boys under ten. When Tim enquired about where to drop off his thousands of plastic bottle lids, the ACT Government advised him that any piece of plastic smaller than a credit card can’t be recycled and had to go to landfill. Whilst Tim is a revhead owning 1950s Holdens his whole life, he’s also passionate about the environment, so he wanted to find an alternative.
A quick search led to Envision, a Victorian-based not-for-profit who have many community projects supporting disadvantaged people and those with a disability. After discovering that Envision were turning plastic bottle lids into mobility aids for children, Tim decided to create Lids4Kids to help collect more lids. After ABC News posted a story about the plastic lid collection, bringing together stakeholders to find new and innovative ways to help kids with lids!
What type of lids do we accept?
We accept lids from water bottles, soft drink bottles and milk bottles, however please remove any inserts.
Unfortunately, we are unable to accept:
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Dirty or wet lids – Please rinse and clean these before donating
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Lids with inserts
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Multi-coloured lids
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Spice/medicine/spread jar lids
- Lids larger than a credit card (eg. Vegemite or peanut butter lids) or smaller than a 10 cent piece
What happens to the lids we receive?
Great question, our process is as follows:
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Public drop off – clean lids are dropped off by the public to the collection point opposite Lucky Crow
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Colour sorting – volunteers sort the lids into 17 different colours and remove any contaminants.
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Polymer sorting – lids are sorted by polymer (plastic type). We use types 2, 4 and 5 which are non-toxic for step 5. This is done 3 times for purity.
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Shredding – lids are shredded into small flakes. This raw material (shred) can now be recycled.
- New products are made – the shred is melted and shaped into 100% recycled and recyclable items by volunteers or businesses!
Are you a school or organisation that has a bulk amount of lids for Collection? No worries! Call us at centre management (02)69 317 277 to arrange drop off at our office.
Learn more below: