Recycling plant change money saver
Palmerston North could rescue an extra 5 per cent of recyclables from the oftencontaminated flow of material through its Awapuni plant after a rejuvenated conveyor system is installed.
City council water and waste services manager Robert van Bentum said the current system delivered a ‘‘lumpy’’ flow of materials into the plant.
The bottlenecks made it difficult for staff sorting by hand to rescue every item that could be recycled, and put a strain on the mechanics.
Any items that could be recycled that staff missed when the flow came past too fast ended up in the waste destined for the landfill.
It was not worth running the stream of products through the system a second time to ensure all recyclables were recovered.
The $50,000 worth of improvements would include a new in-feed conveyor that would carry a more even flow of material into the sorting system.
Van Bentum said the change was needed urgently, as ongoing minor maintenance and down time because of breakdowns was impacting on the capacity of the plant.
The solution involved using and adapting two conveyors that were on hand but not in use.
An adjustable meter wheel would control the speed of the flow of products.
To have 5 per cent less material going to the landfill would save $3300 a year, with potential to earn more from sales.
Further savings of around $4000 a year would be achieved around Christmas and New Year, when the seasonal extra volumes of recycling had needed casual staff to be brought in to help.
Another $7700 a year would be saved through having to run the loader truck into the plant less constantly.
Instead of spending all day dropping loads of material on to the conveyor, enough material could be stockpiled to keep the plant busy for about and hour before needing to load more.
There would also be savings in having to do less maintenance, as the current system suffered frequent breakdowns, particularly on the uphill ride into the plant.
Van Bentum proposed the money to pay for the improvements could be diverted from a budget for making compost to spread on the old landfill ahead of further planting the area.
There was money left over in that budget because of the wet summer, during which the wastewater treatment plant had produced less alum sludge than usual for the composting process.
However, city councillors wanted to see that budget left intact, to be carried over into the next financial year.
Cr Jim Jefferies said the staff proposal for upgrades was an example of good discipline. ’’Spending $50,000, with benefits that will recover the costs within three to four years, is the sort of thing we should be doing more.’’