Council aiming to reduce landfill waste
Investigating a recycling centre or drop-off point on the Hauraki Plains this year is among initiatives being explored by Hauraki District Council..
Yellow rubbish bags ripped open by animals will also be a thing of the past when the collection is done via bins in September 2023.
The Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) — No Time to Waste | Tiakina a Papa! Mimiti te Para! was signed off with an aim to reduce landfill waste by 41 per cent in the next six years.
The council says a big portion of that will be food waste, with a weekly kerbside collection being introduced from September 2023. An audit of council’s kerbside bags last year showed that nearly half of landfill collected was food waste.
There will be no change to the clean recycling and glass crate fortnightly collection.
“Our kerbside collection recycling audits have shown contamination has dropped from 55 per cent in September 2021 to 6 per cent in January 2022 in audited bins,” says Hauraki Mayor Toby Adams.
“That’s an astonishing 49 per cent decrease in contaminated recycling — a fantastic result and a real credit to our communities.”
He says the community response to the plan shows how much people in Hauraki care about their environment.
The council audited 3420 recycling bins to gain insights from November 1 2021 to January 31 2022.
“Adopting the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan now, gives us a good lead in time to get everything in place by the time a new kerbside collection contract comes into place in September 2023”, says mayor Adams.
Other decisions included in the WMMP include:
■ Increasing education on waste reduction, recycling, and contamination,
■ Enforcing a three strike rule on contamination of recycling,
■ Exploring options for an organic waste processing facility in the district,
■ Going ahead with a 12-month trial of public recycling bins in the district,
■ Working with Iwi to incorporate local Ma¯tauranga Ma¯ori in education campaigns.