Broken Hill recycling saving lives and the environment

The Lifeline Tip Shop is a new purpose-built retail and recycling facility and nursery at the Broken Hill Waste Management Facility which provides the community a place to recycle and purchase goods, with every dollar made put back into Lifeline’s suicide prevention services.

Lifeline Tip Shop supervisor Jodie Anderson said the new facility is doing wonders for the community which previously did not have a recycling centre, by providing cheaper options for goods all while supporting the wellbeing of individuals in the community and the environment.

“This really has been a big benefit to the community, we’re filling a real need to provide a cheaper option for items that might otherwise not be affordable all while keeping waste out of landfill and supporting the amazing suicide prevention work that Lifeline does,” Ms Anderson said.

“Before the Tip Shop locals didn’t really have many options to recycle their goods, now we have people calling in every day to see what we can use before they take anything to the tip. The shop has been a great success seeing about 90 to 120 sales every day.

“Our customers are all like family, we see the same faces all the time, and the customers all know each other. We have customers coming in from around the district Menindee, Wilcannia, Tibooburra, creating a great social aspect for the community.”

The first financial year of trading for the Broken Hill Tip Shop speaks to its success with an extra $50,000 donated towards the essential work that lifeline undertakes in the local community through suicide prevention.

Suicide prevention services are especially important in remote and rural areas such as Broken Hill where it is much harder for individuals to get help or find services that are not hundreds of kilometres away.

Lifeline CEO Robert Martin said he was heartened by the community uptake of the new Tip Shop which also gave Lifeline a place to spread their message of individual wellbeing.

“The Tip Shop has been a step in the right direction for waste management and recycling in the Broken Hill community, it has also been a very successful social investment allowing us to employ new staff, attract a passionate team of new volunteers and raise much needed funds to continue offering our life-saving suicide prevention programs,” Dr Martin said.

“The social aspect of the store also gives us a friendly and non-confrontational means to check in on customers and their wellbeing and also to keep a finger on the pulse of the general mental health of the Broken Hill community.

“We’re extremely grateful for the funding received from the NSW Government to allow us to build this new facility. None of what we’ve achieved out here could have happened without this support, it’s invaluable to us and is really helping us change lives in Broken Hill.”

The project was made possible by $664,226 in funding from the NSW Government.