Rubbish at recycling
A 3850-tonne mountain of recycling in Christchurch has had to be diverted to landfill during the past seven weeks, costing the city council more than $800,000.
The authority’s recycling facility, EcoCentral, was closed during the level 4 coronavirus lockdown, meaning 619 truckloads of waste that would normally be recycled were instead thrown away.
Despite operations reopening more than two weeks ago, residents are still putting rubbish into their yellow wheelie bins.
Excessive contamination has forced 139 truckloads of what should have been recyclable waste to be sent to landfill, costing about $139,000 – meaning ratepayers have been effectively throwing money away.
Just 23 truckloads, or about 115 tonnes, of recycling in the whole of last year were so contaminated they had to be rejected and sent to landfill.
It comes at a time of change and uncertainty in the global recycling market, with overseas operators – some of which take Canterbury’s recycling – moving to tighten up the quality of material they are willing to accept.
The city council is also desperately hunting for ways to save money and keep rates increases as low as possible while helping the economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
EcoCentral suspended its recycling operations on April 6 to protect staff from the threat of coronavirus, less than two weeks after the Government imposed the level 4 lockdown.
During its closure, 619 truckloads of recycling – 2930 tonnes – were sent to landfill, along with 236 tonnes of material from the week before closure
that was too contaminated to be recycled.
Residents were told by the council that recycling would have to be sent to landfill during lockdown, and any rubbish that could not fit in a red wheelie bin could be put in the yellow one.
However, despite being advised this was a short-term measure, and despite warnings well in advance of recycling resuming, the practice has continued since EcoCentral reopened.
On May 4, 18 truckloads of what should have been recyclable waste had to be sent to landfill because it was too contaminated – meaning it contained more than 10 per cent rubbish.
That peaked last Wednesday, when
22 truckloads were diverted to landfill, before falling to six on Friday and 11 on Monday.
In the 11 days since EcoCentral reopened for which data is available,
139 truckloads have been sent to landfill – about 700 tonnes – each costing about
$1000 to dispose of, while 210 have been recycled.
All up, that means more than 800 extra truckloads of material have been sent to landfill since the lockdown began, costing the city council more than $800,000.
Each load rejected since EcoCentral reopened contained an average of 15 per cent to 25 per cent contamination, the council’s solid waste manager, Ross Trotter, said. Where contamination is under 10 per cent of a truckload, it can be removed and the recycling processed; anything over that and the entire load is sent to landfill.
In 2018-19, 7.4 per cent of all material collected from yellow bins (or 2826 tonnes) was rubbish that had to be removed and sent to landfill.
Speaking earlier this month, Trotter said the authority could not afford for the level of contamination to continue.
‘‘We need everyone to make a big effort to ensure only clean cardboard, paper, tin and aluminium cans, glass bottles and rigid plastic bottles and containers marked with the numbers one, two or five go in the yellow bin.’’