Recycling hope as dumping fees rise

Paying by weight for the trailer load of rubbish you take to the Timaru transfer station is about to become a reality, but the move should benefit domestic users.

A recent exercise in which 215 trailer loads of rubbish were weighed, showed if they had been paying by weight the dumping fees would have been $10,400, rather than the $6224 the users did pay. Based on those figures, district services manager Ashley Harper estimated the council could be charging an additional $200,000 annually.

Both Mr Harper and senior waste management officer Ruth Clarke believe the person taking a load of domestic rubbish to the transfer station will actually pay less if they remove recyclable and compostable material before the trailer is weighed. A new minimum trailer fee of $35 will be introduced for loads of less than 200 kilograms.

Those with heavier loads were usually dumping business rubbish. One of the trailers weighed had close to a tonne of rubbish on it.

The weigh in-weigh out system will be introduced before the end of June, with the extra fees collected expected to pay for the cost of a new weighbridge which will be required within a year.

Mrs Clarke was also hopeful the new system would see a significant increase in the amount of material being recycled rather than dumped. Checks of commercial material going to the landfill showed 19 per cent of the material could be reused, recycled or composted while the same was true of 22 per cent of the material going to the transfer station. Timber made up a substantial percentage of the material that could be reused but it was being dumped. Removing the recyclable, reusable and compostable material could extend the life of the landfill by five years which would be a major saving to the council and ratepayers, Mr Harper said.

A resource recovery park is also being looked at for the Redruth transfer station site. Under the plan, the Crows Nest recycling centre will be moved to the recovery park. The council will apply to the Waste Minimisation Contestable Fund for the finance required for the shift.

If the Crows Nest shifts, it would open seven days a week rather than the present five days, and there would be greater efficiencies in the handling of goods. It would also save the $12,000 a year it costs to shift container loads of recycled goods from Redruth to the Crows Nest.

Sales were expected to increase at the more public location. The increased sales would give it financial stability and create opportunities for the trust to further develop the sustainable futures park.

- © Fairfax NZ News