Wet’n’Wild rides the recycling wave

Wet’n’Wild Water World has announced the rollout of a public recycling initiative that will see more than 1000 bottles diverted from landfill each day. The infrastructure for the recycling initiative has been in place since February 2010 as part of Warner Village Theme Park’s sustainability program across its four parks.

The initiative was announced recently by the Minister for Tourism and Fair Trading, The Honourable Peter Lawlor MP, at Wet’n’Wild Water World, which has installed 50 new recycling bins throughout the park in partnership with the Packaging Stewardship Forum (PSF) of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, the Queensland Government and Coca-Cola Amatil.

Bob White, General Manager for Wet’n’Wild Water World and Warner Bros Movie World, said, “With more than one million people visiting our park annually, the new recycling bins and the Queensland Government’s ‘Do the Right Thing, Use the Right Bin’ recycling message will have a significant impact on the environment. We’ve now implemented two recycling streams at the park: beverage packaging and cardboard. The recycling bins at Wet’n’Wild will have the potential to divert six tonnes of waste from landfill annually, reducing our carbon footprint by 34 tonnes every year.”

General Manager of the PSF, Jenny Pickles, said: “We’re promoting behavioural change amongst consumers, which is even more beneficial for the young children who enjoy Wet’n’Wild Water World, encouraging them to adopt positive habits at an early age. We believe that this behavioural change will feed through into other areas including at home and in schools.”

Coca-Cola and Surf Life Saving Queensland will be combining efforts to promote recycling at Wet’n’Wild Water World on the Gold Coast. People attending the park will be encouraged to place their empty Coke and Mt Franklin water bottles in specific bins around the venue. Coca-Cola will donate 5 cents for every bottle collected and this will assist Surf Life Saving Queensland invest in further training of lifesavers and for continuing public education to support the all-important Swim Between the Red and Yellow Flags surf safety campaign. This program is anticipated to launch in June 2010.

The recycling initiative is being implemented across all Warner Village Theme Parks in Queensland. On average, 20 tonnes of beverage containers will be saved from landfill each year from Wet’n’Wild, Movie World, Paradise Country and Sea World. This will equate to a reduction in CO₂ emissions of 105 tonnes, equivalent to taking eight cars off the road each year.