Dunedin embraces recycling

After decades of disposing of their refuse then forgetting about it, Dunedin residents are finally embracing the concept of recycling.

• Life and times of a milk bottle

Since kerbside recycling was introduced throughout suburban areas in 2003, steadily increasing amounts of plastic, steel, aluminium, glass, paper and cardboard are being diverted away from the Green Island landfill.

That benefits the environment and means the present landfill will last many years longer before its expensive replacement at Smooth Hill, near Brighton, needs to be developed.

Last year, 7955 tonnes of material was recycled - 13.5% more than the 7011 tonnes recycled in 2007, and well ahead of the 5000 or so tonnes collected in the first 12 months of the scheme.

However, Dunedin City Council staff estimate 32,000 tonnes of refuse - about one third of the total tonnage of refuse generated annually in the city - could be recycled or composted if a general and green waste recycling system was working at its optimum level.

The council has also introduced a "pay as you go" refuse collection system to further encourage residents to reduce, re-use and recycle unwanted materials rather than discard them.

It has also appointed a waste exchange co-ordinator to match businesses with material to discard with those who need those products.

However, trying to encourage full participation in recycling is difficult.

The council is grappling with the problem of commercial wheelie bin services which, while convenient for customers, do not encourage waste minimisation or recycling, and with the overall cost of services.

Recycling costs money.

Contractors are needed to carry out the collection and sorting, and landfill operating costs still have to be met even if tonnages decline.

At present, recycling, refuse and landfill services cost Dunedin residents about $2.5 million annually through their rates, and they have to buy refuse bags (or wheelie bins) as well.

Dunedin's recycling picture was mirrored for most other local authorities, Dunedin City Council water and waste services manager John Mackie said.

Most were trying to meet the targets of the New Zealand Waste Strategy 2002, which outlined guidelines by which councils could move towards the goal of no waste going to landfills at all.