Plastic recycling trials show success

A Christchurch plastics reprocessor is looking to set up a pilot programme to recycle soft plastic that is being dumped at the Timaru landfill.

District council senior waste management officer Ruth Clarke said the company has already undertaken small-scale trials and was now ready to move to a larger pilot programme.

It uses the type of plastic, including plastic bags and silage wrap, which can not be processed by the materials recovery centre at Redruth.

A successful trial has already been run with plastic from the centre and businesses in the district.

Mrs Clarke said it was likely a wide range of plastics could be processed, reducing the waste going to the landfill.

The company wants to step up its production and will need about five tonnes of plastic a week.

E-waste – "anything with a cord" – should become easier to recycle in Timaru, with council staff talking to a recycling company that wants to set up e-waste recovery.

Mrs Clarke said the most frequently asked question of her staff was how to recycle e-waste, whether it was computer equipment or cellphones.

What is likely to be needed, is for the company, Sims Recycling Solutions, to work with trusts such as the South Canterbury Recycling Trust.

The trust, which runs the Crows Nest recycling shop in Timaru, would collect the goods and do the initial dismantling, which would reduce the volume of goods being transported to the company.

What the company paid for the material should be sufficient to pay for a new position at the Crows Nest, providing a seven-day-a-week collection point for e-waste.

- © Fairfax NZ News