The Shire of Campaspe’s Echuca Environment Centre is now home to a permanent drumMUSTER collection cage.
“Council has been working with drumMUSTER for many years to collect and dispose of old chemical drums,” said Councillor Greg Toll. “The new cage at Echuca Environment Centre provides an easy disposal option for farmers.”
drumMUSTER is free to chemical users thanks to a 4 cents per litre/kilogram levy they pay on eligible products at the point of sale made by participating chemical companies who have signed onto the stewardship program.
Allan McGann, drumMUSTER’s National Program Manager, said Campaspe Shire Council is one of hundreds of councils across the country who provide the service to ratepayers.
“drumMUSTER is an essential community service for a lot of regions. Farmers, pest control operators and other chemical users benefit by offloading drums that are becoming an environmental problem on their land.”
Cr Toll said, “Council’s partnership with drumMUSTER is important as it results in materials that would otherwise end up in landfill being recycled.”
The Echuca Environment Centre, which is situated next to the Echuca Livestock Exchange on Mackenzie Road, receives drums on an ongoing basis. The centre is open from Monday to Saturday 8am–4:45pm and on Sunday 10pm–3:45pm.
drumMUSTER Regional Consultant John Knight encourages chemical users to load up their trailers and utes with empty containers when they visit the Echuca Livestock Exchange on sales day.
“Clearing the farm of used chemical drums and placing them into a recycling stream like drumMUSTER is good farm management practice,” he said.
Another facility run by the Campaspe Shire Council is the Mt Scobie Transfer Station in Kyabram. It is open from Tuesday to Friday 8am–12pm and Saturday to Sunday 8pm–3:45pm.
Since the inception of the drumMUSTER program in 1999, Victorian chemical users have returned close to 4.8 million containers.
Once collected, the containers are shredded and transformed into practical items such as plastic cable covers, wheelie bins, road signs and bollards.
All containers presented at the collection must meet the program’s cleanliness standards. Containers must be triple rinsed and free of any chemical residue.
For further information on rinsing requirements, call the Campaspe Shire Council on (03) 5480 7214.