A national recycling initiative launched in Dunedin ahead of last year's Rugby World Cup has proved a hit, and could even be expanded.
Figures compiled by the Dunedin City Council showed 6.2 tonnes of recycling - mainly glass - has been collected since 52 new recycling stations were installed around the city six months ago.
The stations were part of a nationwide scheme launched in Dunedin by Environment Minister Nick Smith last year, costing about $2.5 million and paid for by the Waste Minimisation Fund and the Glass Packaging Forum.
Each station had separate bins for rubbish, glass and other recycling, and in Dunedin had been installed on public streets and at prominent public locations including the Dunedin Railway Station and Speight's Brewery.
Council solid waste manager Ian Featherston said, in a report to this week's infrastructure services committee meeting, the amount collected meant 6.2 tonnes of recycling had so far been diverted from landfill.
The volume collected each month was also increasing, with 1.6 tonnes collected on average in each of the past three months, he said.
Contamination levels remained low, at between 2% and 5% a month, "although the ideal is to have none", he said.
The popularity of the stations had prompted requests for more from the Chalmers and Mosgiel Taieri community boards, and six spare stations would be installed over the next few months, as existing rubbish bins needed replacement, he said.
More stations could also be installed in other parts of the city in future using existing council budgets, if there was a wish to do so, he told councillors at Tuesday's meeting.
