Major increase in Manukau's recycling

Manukau residents have significantly increased their recycling in the last six months – with volumes increasing 32 per cent.

This is well ahead of the target of 15 to 25 per cent Manukau City Council set when introducing the new recycling service on 30 June 2008.

Between 30 June and the end of 2008 Manukau residents recycled 14,177 tonnes, compared to 10,708 tonnes in the final six months of 2007. The new service saw residents provided with a 240 litre recycling bin that takes a wider range of material and the establishment of a new state-of-the-art sorting facility run by Visy Recycling.

The new service has also successfully increased the proportion of household waste that is recycled. Thirty per cent of waste is now recycled, compared to a rate of 22 per cent in 2007.

Manukau City Council City Form and Environment Portfolio Leader Sharon Stewart says it is great news that the new recycling service has had an impact on the amount of rubbish ending up at landfills.

“The new service has been a huge success, with people recycling much more than our target increase of 15 to 25 per cent.

“Our aim was to make it easier to recycle more, and people have really taken the opportunity to increase their recycling.

“It is also very encouraging to see that people are generally putting the right things in their recycling bin. Only three per cent of the material that ends up at the sorting facility are things that shouldn’t have been put in a recycling bin. This is the best rate of any of Visy’s facilities in Australasia.

“However there are some problems with grass clippings and garden waste being put in recycling bins. People should find other environmentally friendly ways of getting rid of these, for example composting or starting a worm farm,” Cr Stewart says.

Other items that can’t be recycled include plastic bags, carpet, string, clothing and food waste. Items that can be put in the recycling wheelie bin are tins, cans, paper, cardboard, glass jars and bottles, plastic containers and bottles, empty aerosols, clean aluminium foil plates and trays.

Visy Recycling General Manager Michael Franks says residents are generally doing a great job at only putting the right things in their recycling bins.

“However, those who continue to put contaminants in their recycling bins need to be aware that what they put into their recycling bins has a real impact on how effective their recycling efforts are.

“Putting contamination in your recycling bins, such as carpet, clothing, organic waste like grass clippings can cause damage in the recycling plant, and even nastier items can potentially cause injury to our MRF staff,” Mr Franks says.

Visy Recycling’s new facility at Onehunga sorts Manukau and Auckland’s recycling. It uses an array of high-tech screening techniques and optical sorting devices to separate and recover the recyclable materials. Known as a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), it is initially capable of sorting up to 80,000 tonnes of recyclables per year.