Recycling

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (15:36): I will start today by speaking about recycling. My office helps our community do a whole range of recycling in terms of repurpose and re-use—bottle tops, bread tags, batteries—and a whole range of ways we can stop landfill.

In the debate here in the house in the last few months, we have talked about corflutes. Corflutes clearly pose a challenge from a recycling point of view, so I have come up with quite a number of suggestions of ways people can, in their own work, repurpose or re-use corflutes. I certainly have in my office. There might be some new suggestions here for some of the members.

My local sporting shooters group has used of them for target practice. That might make people feel a bit uncomfortable, but I find it quite funny, to be honest. They promise me they turn them around the other way and put the targets on—which they probably have to, to do all the circles and stuff. I think target practice is a great way for them to use old corflutes.

In the 2016 federal election campaign, one branch developed a self-standing A-frame which used old corflutes in its making, providing a more economical option than building timber frames or buying metal frames. You stitch the top edges of the corflutes together with some short cable ties and you weigh it down with a full milk bottle of water or a brick or something else heavy like that, and voila—a cost-effective and transport-friendly A-frame.

You could contact other local groups and see if they are doing craft or other activities. Many of these groups would benefit from the use of the hard-wearing, flexible corflute material. Schools can obviously use the blank side to create signage for their fetes or other school events. I have a big smile when I get on the train every time I come into the city on the Seaford line. I forget the station, but I think it is somewhere near Colonel Light Gardens or a little bit up from there, Cumberland Park maybe. You see the face of Penny Wong, and as the breeze flaps her face goes from being a flower back to her face because the kids from the local kindy and school have made signs that go on the fences.

The Hon. D.C. van Holst Pellekaan: Tree planting is good too.

Ms COOK: Indeed. They can be painted with chalkboard paint to become a re-usable blackboard for sporting groups and community groups. Chalk markers can be used to make effective signs for school fetes, supporting sports teams or for Greens' stalls.

They are also an effective reputation protection, ensuring that the original printed sign is no longer visible no matter where it ends up. So you can all be painted black with your chalkboard paint. My signs have also been used for the sets of the Wakakirri for our local schools. Sadly, that did not go ahead this year. Members may know that the Wangaypuwan peoples use the word 'Wakakirri' to talk about dance. It is an incredible storytelling dance festival our local schools participate in, and, yes, my corflutes have featured in that.

There are a couple of interesting things in nature. They can be put on top of the beehives, and the hollow core makes really good thermal insulation. The bees appreciate that in the hot weather. One that really captured my imagination involves our wombats. We know they suffer from sarcoptic mange, an awful disease that affects our wombats. Corflutes have been used as burrow flaps. You attach a milk bottle cap to the corflute and in it goes cydectin, the medication. As the little wombats trundle off to bed at night, or during the day, or whenever they are going into their little house, the flap swings and the cydectin pops out of the milk bottle cap and runs down their little backs and treats their illness. That gets rid of their mites and what have you. That is a terrific use for corflutes.

They are useful in community gardens and for gardening groups, as well as for roof insulation material for your chicken shed. Obviously, the SES and the CFS use them to patch up busted tiles during a storm. Victoria is trialling a re-use to manufacture into other corflute products, and some printers that offer election sign printing services will take existing corflutes and try to print existing art works. There are a few suggestions for the re-use, repurpose and recycle of corflutes.

Time expired.