New Recycling Calendar & Bags Being Delivered

A new 15-month recycling calendar is now being delivered to households, along with a flyer on what can and can't be recycled. Bag households will also receive a new six-month supply of bags.

Reminders:

• Two recycling bags equal one recycling bin - 26 bags should last six months.
• Use Council rubbish bags not recycling bags for regular household waste. Council rubbish bags can be purchased at supermarkets and the Service Centre at 101 Wakefield Street.
• Put glass in your green crate not recycling bags or wheelie bins.
• Do not put broken glass into the glass crate.
• Only recycling in Council-approved containers - the glass crate, recycling bin or recycling bags - will be collected.
• Only material that has been properly separated will be collected.
• Hypodermic needles and syringes cannot be recycled.

 

Wellington City Council's CitiOperations Manager Mike Mendonca says since the new scheme started five months ago, there has been an eight percent drop in the number of rubbish bags going to the landfill. The reduction reflects the fact more Wellington households are now participating in recycling - 95 percent of suburban households compared with 74 percent under the old scheme.

After a few initial teething problems the new system is working well. Most people have got the hang of separating out glass, which has been instrumental in better yields and cleaner, safer recycling.

Mr Mendonca says with recycling volumes on the way up, and 80 percent of what we collect now processed in New Zealand compared with only about 20 percent in the past, the new system is paying dividends.

"It was costing us about $50,000 a month to process the recyclables," he says. "Now we are making just under $100,000 a month from their sale, which is a big turn around.

If current trends continue, the city will make more than a $1 million a year from selling recyclables, funding about a quarter of the cost of the collection service.

"Wellingtonians can help us improve on that by making sure recycling materials are clean and their bin or bag doesn't include general rubbish," he says.

Anyone who hasn't received a calendar, information flyer and recycling bags (bag households only) by the end of October, should phone (04) 499 4444.