Auckland City Council Media release

4 July 2008

First week of new recycling service a success

Feedback on the new Auckland city isthmus recycling service shows that residents are adjusting well to the changes brought about by the start of the new service on 30 June.

"So far this week, we have had really encouraging reports on how the service is going," says Councillor Graeme Mulholland, deputy chairperson of the City Development Committee.

"The level of difficulty experienced with the new blue-lidded bins has just not come to pass. The bin detectives are doing a great job helping householders understand the changes.

Bin detectives who check the bins ahead of collection, report finding some non-recyclable items such as food scraps, fabric and plastic bags. Where minor quantities of non-recyclable materials observed in the bin, the bin will be emptied and residents will be left a reminder about what can and cannot go in the recycling wheelie bins.

If large amounts of rubbish, bagged recyclables or non-recyclable items are found they will seal the bin and leave a written notification for the resident. The bin will not be emptied until it contains only loose recyclable materials.

Residents accustomed to putting out newspapers or other recycling in plastic bags are reminded they no longer need to do this. All paper and cardboard and other recyclables should be placed, loose, directly into the recycling wheelie bin. No recyclables should be put in plastic bags.

The new service aims to make it easier for Auckland residents to recycle more, resulting in an expected increase in the amount being recycled of between 15 and 25 per cent.

"The first week of operation at the materials recovery facility (MRF), where the recyclables are sorted, has also performed well," says Mr Mulholland.

The larger 240-litre blue-lidded recycling bins, which have replaced the old blue recycling crates, allow people to put a wider range of recyclable material in the same bin, including paper and cardboard, plastic containers numbered 1 to 7, glass jars and bottles, and steel and aluminium cans.

The old blue crates will be collected from those residents who do not wish to keep them. Dates for this will be advertised closer to the time of collection.

Approximately 150,000 blue-lidded recycling bins have been delivered across the city. Residents should check the recycling collection calendar delivered with the bin or go to www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/recycling to make sure they know which fortnight their recycling will be collected.

ENDS

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