Selwyn’s mayor has “never been so excited about rubbish and recycling”.
Mayor Lydia Gliddon said she was pleased to see the new recycling station trial in Darfield set up this week for Malvern residents who do not have a kerbside recycling service.
It is a project she had worked on last term with former councillor Bob Mugford - and to see it set up was “a thing of beauty”.
“It’s a win for people who don’t have any rubbish collection.”
It will operate similarly to the other successful remote rubbish and recycling centres at Arthur’s Pass and Castle Hill. But it is the first time one has been placed in an urban setting in the district.
Selwyn District Council collects kerbside recycling directly from 30,324 properties (over 96% of properties in the district). However, about 600 properties do not have a kerbside service at their gate.
Resource recovery and waste manager Andrew Boyd said the trial is about closing the gaps for those properties in the area around Darfield.
“Residents have told us they want to recycle and we’ve noticed the public recycling bins in the area are being used to recycle a lot of household rubbish.
“People have also told us that it needs to be easy and convenient, so by trialling this recycle station in Darfield they have an easier option available.”
The station will be monitored and is not for use by businesses or people who have kerbside recycling.
The trial will be reviewed regularly and its success will rely on only clean recyclable items being deposited.
“We hope that the trial is successful, and we can make the recycling facility a permanent option for off-route residents,” Boyd said.
-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
