Latest news with #greenwaste
RNZ News
10 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Three strikes and you lose your bin
A yellow-top recycling bin filled with items that are not accepted at the Tauranga Material Recovery Facility where the bins' contents are taken. Photos supplied Photo: LDR Whakatāne District Council plans to bring in strict penalties for those who continually put incorrect items in their recycling and greenwaste bins. Three strikes and perpetrators will have their large yellow or green lidded bins confiscated for three months. Solid waste manager Nigel Clarke recently presented the mayor and councillors with a plan for how to tackle the high amounts of unrecyclable waste making its way to the Material Recovery Facility in Tauranga every week and into the compost being made at the Keepa Road greenwaste facility through kerbside collections. The Tauranga facility reports incorrect items can sometimes make up as much as 65 percent of recycling they receive from Whakatāne district. The average so far this year has been 25 percent. The facility will not accept kerbside recycling from Murupara at all because of the high level of contamination. The Murupara recycling bins must first be pre-sorted in Whakatāne. Clarke said the contractor that recycles Whakatāne greenwaste into compost will no longer accept kerbside greenwaste. It had not been able to sell the finished product because of the large amount of uncompostable items place in bins by households. The council recently had to dispose of over 475 tonnes of compost from the Keepa Road site to landfill at a cost of $143,000. Clarke said people needed to think of recycling and greenwaste as a product that they were trying to sell. Contamination devalued it. Unrecyclable items dumped at the Tauranga Material Recovery Facility from Whakatāne kerbside bins. Photo: LDR "Imagine if you go to the supermarket and buy a sealed bag of potatoes. If you open up that bag and find it's 50 percent soil you're not going to buy that brand of potatoes again. It's the same with our kerbside recycling. If it's full of things that shouldn't be there, the industry doesn't want it." Most households did the right thing and educational programmes did work to a point, but there was evidence that some households just didn't want to recycle correctly. "Some don't want to be educated. Some will purposely hide contamination underneath other items." He plans to launch a greenwaste contamination education campaign in July which will introduce a system in which anyone placing incorrect items in their greenwaste bins will be issued a warning letter and flyer. If a third letter must be issued their bin will be confiscated for three months. The perpetrator would not be eligible for a deduction in rates due to this service being removed. A similar programme for recycling bins was planned for October. Clarke said the problem of kerbside recycling contamination was not restricted to Whakatāne but was a nationwide issue. He said several other councils around the country had taken similar steps to address the problem. Information about items that can be placed in greenwaste and recycling bins is available on the council's website. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Guernsey islanders asked what makes their gardens grow
Gardeners are being asked if they would switch to locally produced compost in a bid to cut down on the need to import compost and artificial fertilisers to Waste has launched a survey to find out what products islanders use in their said the initiative was part of a review of the processing of local green waste, to improve efficiency and ensure a secure and reliable output for the materials being Button, Guernsey Waste's minimisation and sustainability officer, said: "Whether you're a keen gardener, a frequent user of the green waste site, or simply interested in supporting more sustainable practices, we would like to hear from you." Guernsey Waste said about 12,000 tonnes of household and commercial green waste is collected in the island each year. This is shredded at Mont Cuet and then composted for several months, so the material breaks down to produce a compost-like soil conditioner. This can currently be collected for free from Longue Button said: "We are looking to improve the current operations, to ensure they work as efficiently as possible and deliver the maximum benefit to the island. "The feedback from the survey will provide useful information to gauge what products islanders are currently using and the reasons behind their choices."As well as households, commercial gardening firms are also invited to complete the survey and feedback is also being sought from farmers.A new drop off site for household garden waste opened at Mont Cuet last year.
