Recycling opportunities on the increase

The recent closure of the Kerikeri Recycling Centre in Cobham Road has provided an exciting opportunity with endless new recycling initiatives being investigated, trialed and implemented.

The first new recycling initiative and trial was the introduction of kerbside recycling collections in the Kerikeri and Waipapa area.

Now being introduced are new roadside community recycling facilities. These roadside community recycling facilities, known by the trade name Molok, are in the process of being installed to service peripheral areas which previously relied on the former Kerikeri Recycling Centre.

The first of these new roadside community recycling facilities is located on a council reserve on Puketona Road, about 200 metres from the State Highway 10 junction, and is already operational. Further facilities will be installed over the next two weeks at Okaihau and Kaeo.

The community facilities are designed to take normal household recyclable materials such as glass, cans, tins, plastics (1-7), newspaper and cardboard, with the added advantage that the materials do not need to be sorted before being deposited. Sorting will take place after the bin contents have been transported to Wasteworks Ltd's purpose built waste recovery centre at Kaikohe.

Far North District Council Operations & Planning Manager Stephen Cooper said today the roadside community facilities were designed to supplement existing recycling facilities in the Bay of Islands area, including the Transfer Station recycling facilities at Whitehills (on State Highway 10 near the Matauri Bay turnoff) and Whangae (on State Highway 11 between Opua and Kawakawa)”.

"The bins will also augment the Northland-wide 'on the road recycling' scheme designed specifically for campervans and the visitor industry. The scheme provides the opportunity for visitors to purchase recycling bags at strategic service stations and i-site information centres and maintain the recycling ethic they would normally follow in their home communities”.

"In addition the larger bins will add to the small casual recycling bins already established as part of a town centre recycling trial initiated jointly by the council and the Ministry for the Environment at Russell and Paihia earlier this year," he said.

Waste Works Managing Director Warwick Taylor said “the Molok facilities could take up to 5 cubic metres of recyclables and were designed specifically for domestic recycling”.

"Many people regularly used the former Kerikeri facility when travelling into town from surrounding areas to go about their normal business, and the roadside bins are being located to provide a convenient, alternate facility," he said.

However the new mixed recycling bins were not designed to take commercial quantities.

"We are currently in negotiations with the intention of setting up a specific facility for commercial quantities of paper and cardboard at Kerikeri. If negotiations are successful, this new commercial facility could be available within the next few weeks," Mr Taylor said.

In the meantime commercial recycling facilities were still available at local Transfer Stations.

Mr Taylor said “depending on economic viability, further Molok facilities could be set up in future at other locations in the district”.