The Frankton and Wanaka transfer station facilities will close every Sunday, starting this weekend, as staffing issues continue to bite.
The decision to reduce operating hours follows challenges recruiting staff to run the facilities safely, the council said in a statement yesterday.
Earlier this month recycled materials went straight to the landfill because of staff shortages.
The plan is to open again on Sundays on January 8.
Council infrastructure operations manager Simon Mason said work was ongoing to find a solution to the staffing shortage and confirmed the materials recovery facility (MRF) and kerbside rubbish and recycling collection service would continue to operate as normal.
"We’re working hard to maintain normal levels of service for the community while grappling with the same resourcing challenges as many other local businesses.
"As we’ve said before, this will not be resolved overnight and our key focus is on balancing the need to maintain staff wellbeing and operational safety whilst continuing our kerbside collection service and fulfilling our waste minimisation commitments.
"Temporarily reducing operating hours at the transfer stations helps us to keep the MRF open, allowing us to continue to keep recyclable material out of landfill.
"We encourage everyone to keep up good recycling habits. Put your bins out as normal with clean mixed recycling in the yellow bin, glass in the blue bin and rubbish in the red bin.
"Helping to reduce contamination in our recycling streams significantly helps the MRF team who hand-sort our district’s mixed recycling," he said.
The Frankton and Wanaka transfer stations will remain open 8am-5pm, six days a week from Monday to Saturday.
The council is continuing to support Waste Management New Zealand in its recruitment efforts and exploring all options to reduce the risk of future disruptions.
Roles available include drivers, recycling operators and transfer station operators.
