Subj : Report says 17% of items at recycling facilities end up in landfills
To   : All
From : News
Date : Mon May 20 2024 12:56 pm

A new report has found nearly a fifth of the items put into our recycling
bins last year were taken to the dump due to contamination, with the industry
now calling for more action from the government.


The report was conducted by the Waste and Recycling Industry Forum, the
industry representative for nine companies that collect around 95% of New
Zealand's household waste and recycling.


"The figures are concerning as it shows that the system is not working the
way that we want it to", said executive director Barney Irvine.


Material is being rejected from the recycling process when it hasn't been
properly rinsed or when it's not considered recyclable under the curbside
collection system.


If not detected by manual and automated sorting processes, the items can go
on to contaminate other recyclable materials.


"Unfortunately, the contamination rate has been on the up for a number of
years now".


"The system isn't working as well as it needs to, and what that adds up to is
a whole lot of extra costs. and an environmental footprint in the system
that's a lot bigger than we want it to be", he said.


It's an issue Terry Coe, the Waste Enterprise and Refuse Manager for Auckland
Council, has noticed across the city's waste facilities.


"For the last decade till 2020, we were running at about 11% contamination,
which the plant can deal with, but we're over 20% now", he said.


A lack of education is believed to be one of the reasons behind the increase
in contamination, but Irvine says some people are simply flouting the rules.


"A lot of the material is things that just shouldn't be in there. Whether
it's soiled diapers, or old clothes, or worn out bikes", said Irvine.


While standardisation was introduced earlier this year to make recycling
easier, the WRIF says it would like to see the government take greater action.

We want to see a focus not just on consumers but producers as well, so if
they're bringing products to the market that can't be recycled, they're held
to account for it."


The Industry representative would also like to see a clear plan for
developing New Zealand's onshore recycling infrastructure, to increase the
range of materials that can be recycled, and reduce the amount of recycling
being sent offshore.

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