TAC’s Doug McDonald and De-Arne Bordin with Rotary Club of Geelong Central Lloyd Gosling’s and some of the salvaged equipment.
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
MILLIONS of dollars worth of rehabilitation equipment has been rescued from landfill after a landmark agreement between a Geelong Rotary club and the TAC.
TAC project manager Doug McDonald said the first batch of equipment worth $80,000 was ready for delivery.
He said Rotary would donate much of the equipment to developing nations.
The agreement was forged between the TAC and Geelong Central Rotary branch, where Mr McDonald is also a member.
“The TAC spends millions of dollars in equipment for our clients each year. Smaller items are given to clients, but larger more expensive equipment is retrieved once clients no longer need it,” Mr McDonald said.
“As part of our corporate social responsibility program the TAC now has an agreement with Rotary Australia World Community Service.
“This initiative is one way for our organisation to engage with the community by donating this equipment and minimise our impact on the environment by reducing landfill and recycling a resource that is scarce in developing countries.”
Mr McDonald said therapists often recommended new equipment for clients, forcing the TAC to dump perfectly good items over the years.
He said TAC and Rotary were working on an agreement that would allow some of the rescued equipment to go to not-for-profit mobility organisations in Victoria.
The equipment often included items such as power wheelchairs valued at between $4000 and $10,000, he said.
Central Geelong Rotary’s Geoff Hutchinson said the Club was “very proud” of the achievement.
“This is a fantastic breakthrough because we had to find a way of minimising risk to both organisations as well as to the new users of the equipment,” Mr Hutchinson said.
“In each case an assessment is made on the retrieved equipment and it can be repaired, maintained and sometimes reissued to other TAC clients.
“However, there has been a stockpile of surplus equipment and now it can benefit people who would otherwise have little chance to access it,” he said.
