Recycling police eliminate waste

BEN CAMPBELL/Eastern Courier

NO RUBBISH: Recycling detective Carl Barrington and his team ensure recycling is not contaminated by rubbish, plastic bags and food wraps, kitchen or garden waste, and nappies.

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Recycling "detectives" are making sure the most advanced recycling facility in the southern hemisphere isn’t messed up.

With the launch of Manukau’s new recycling service this week the detectives have been going ahead of collection trucks checking recycling wheelie bins.

When they discover rubbish, plastic bags or anything else that can’t be recycled inside the wheelie bins, they slap a sticker on the bin so the truck doesn’t empty it.

They also leave a reminder about what can and can’t go in the recycling wheelie bins.

The 240-litre recycling bins, which replaced the green crates, are designed to carry more recycling and are collected fortnightly.

They allow people to put a wider range of recycling in the same bin, including paper and cardboard, plastic containers and bottles, glass jars and bottles, tins and cans.

Manukau senior environmental policy analyst Patricia Facenfield says residents used to putting out newspapers or other recycling in plastic bags should remember to remove them from the plastic bags.

"Paper and cardboard can go straight in the recycling wheelie bin but not the plastic bag."

The new materials recovery facility in Onehunga takes out items that can’t be recycled, "but we want to stop rubbish or plastic bags getting in the wheelie bins", Ms Facenfield says.

The facility, designed and operated by Visy Recycling, uses high-tech screening techniques and optical sorting devices to separate and recover materials.

It is initially capable of sorting up to 80,000 tonnes of recyclables a year and is part of Manukau’s and Auckland’s new recycling service.

Manukau environment portfolio leader Sharon Stewart says the new service is a significant step for recycling in New Zealand and is expected to increase Manukau’s volume of recycling by between 15 and 25 percent.

"Manukau and Auckland have almost 20 percent of the country’s population," she says.

"With our residents recycling more we will make a major contribution to the country’s efforts to reduce waste."

Auckland development committee chairman Sam Lotu-Iiga says the leading edge facility will play a significant role in reducing waste going to landfill.

"So much of what currently goes to our landfills could actually be recycled. We expect that the new facility will greatly increase the amount that people recycle because it will make it easier to do."