Changes made to rubbish collection, recycling
COUNCILS across Otago and Southland are following Dunedin city’s lead regarding recycling — abandoning it in the wake of Covid19.
Recyclables are sorted by hand, so all recycling hubs across Otago and Southland are closed, as are transfer stations and landfills.
Manual recycling sorting facilities are not classified an essential service and in the interests of staff safety and following national best practice, recycling will be collected and taken to landfill until the Covid19 response levels return to level 2.
The Dunedin City Council announced recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard, plastics or glass will not be recycled after today and will be treated as general waste. People are asked to store clean recycling materials for when normal collection resumes.
The Central Otago District Council’s emptying of yellowtop recycling wheelie bins went ahead as usual on Wednesday but contents would not be recycled and items should be stored if possible.
In Queenstown Lakes District
Council jurisdiction the same rules apply — collection as normal but do not expect items put out in lockdown to be recycled. Store them if possible.
The Clutha District Council has stopped recycling services and asks people to keep clean empty plastic containers and cans until services resume.
The Waitaki District Council will continue kerbside rubbish collection but recycling stops, including recycling dropoff services. The council asks people to clean and store recyclables, or dispose of them with rubbish.
The Gore and Southland district councils and Invercargill City Council have adopted the same measures with normal kerbside collection and recyclables going to landfill. Recyclables are to be stored until normal collection returns.