Kirribilli Markets: Case Study

CASE STUDY
KIRRIBILLI MARKETS
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
THERE’S SOMETHING FOR
EVERYONE AT KIRRIBILLI
MARKETS, WITH SYDNEY
HARBOUR A SCENIC BACKDROP
FOR BARGAIN HUNTERS.
Kirribilli Markets features over 220 stalls
of fashion and accessories, emerging
local designs, homewares and gifts,
art and craft, plants and gourmet
goodies. There’s always a plethora of
stallholders offloading secondhand
wares before heading overseas, or after
a closet spring clean.
Run for 40 years by the Kirribilli
Neighbourhood Centre, the markets
are held twice each month and attract
up to 5000 visitors a day. All profits
fund the community centre and the
range of workshops and support
services it offers to locals.
“We wanted to reduce the
amount of waste we were
sending to landfill. No one
had looked at this before and
we wanted to do the right
thing.” Paul JW, Manager.
Sustainability Drivers
Kirribilli Market organisers are always looking for ways to cut down the
rubbish they send to landfill and do their bit for the environment.
The Kirribilli Markets produce a variety of waste streams and they have
10 recycling bins and 10 general waste bins. However, the recycling bins
were often emptied as general waste bins due to contamination, mainly
from plastic film, old clothes and food waste. More than 130 general
waste bins of leftover clothes items were being sent to landfill each year.
Kirribilli Markets engaged with Better Business Partnership in order to
gain a better understanding of the types of waste in their bins, reduce
the contamination in recycling bins and find better ways to reuse the
discarded secondhand clothes left at the end of each market day.
They’ve since partnered with the Smith Family charity to collect these
unsold items for people in need using dedicated clothing bins. In so
doing, they are making a positive difference in the wider community as
well as minimising their envrionmental footprint.
Results and Badges
Waste Saver:
A commingled recycling scheme is in place alongside
general waste bins; they’ve drafted a waste management
plan with a goal to reduce the amount of contaminates
found in recycling bins and future actions to achieve this;
successful partnership with the Smith Family to provide
mobile clothes recycling bins for stallholders who wish
to dispose of any clothes, shoes and accessories at
the end of market day; recently started a campaign to
encourage food stallholders to use biodegradable or
environmentally friendly plates and cutlery; purchasing
better signage and hoods for bins and positioning the
commingled and general waste bins in more effective
locations for people to use.
Community Support:
The markets are a community-held event, with all
profits used for the Kirribilli Community Centre to run
workshops and classes for locals; the markets offer an
opportunity for community members to sell products,
food and play music for the enjoyment of all who visit.
Sustainable Purchasing:
Stallholders are encouraged to sell secondhand
goods; the markets are starting to implement a
request on food stallholders to use biodegradable and
environmentally friendly plates and cutlery.
Communicating the Message
The markets tell all stallholders about the opportunity to recycle old
clothes with the Smith Family at the time of booking. Paul JW, the
Markets Manager, sends out a specific email to secondhand clothing
sellers prior to each market day about the clothing bins and the option
to send unwanted items to charity. They also keep vendors and the
general public in the loop about activities and new initiatives via the
markets’ quarterly newsletter and Facebook posts.
More Information
Changes in Attitudes or Behaviour
Register
The organisers have received nothing but positive feedback from
secondhand stallholders about the clothing bins. They love the
convenience the bins offer for leaving unsold items as well as the
associated community and environmental benefits.
Contact Better Business Partnership
Call: 9777 7519
Visit:www.betterbusinesspartnership.com.au
Markets Manager: Paul JW
Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre
16-18 Fitzroy Street
Kirribilli, NSW 2061
02 9922 4428
“It makes it so easy to recycle old clothes rather than
throw them away.” Rachel Brown, clothes stallholder.
And while the markets have only just started their food container
project, the first stallholder to take up the initiative has not looked back.
Tips for Other Businesses
“The corn starch plates and cutlery are great to use as
they’re just as durable as plastic but so much better for
the environment.” Nathan Dawson, The Pig Baron stall.
“Look at your garbage and what’s
recyclable, consider how to reduce
your waste and talk to the Better
Business Partnership on how best
to move forward.”
Next Steps
Paul is looking forward to getting better signage on recycling and
garbage bins including well-labelled bin hoods. They’ll continue to roll
out their initiative for food stallholders to use environmentally friendly
plates and cutlery, and keep up communications to ensure everyone
uses the recycling bins properly. Paul also plans to monitor their
waste and contamination rates over time to review how the system is
performing and identify additional needs.
Key Achievements
Cutting the amount of waste going to landfill by
13% with clothes recycling in charity bins and
better facilities.