Bin spotters find 9 out of 10 people don't recycle correctly

Nearly nine out of 10 Christchurch households do not recycle correctly, and a third are so bad their bins should not be collected, spot checks have found. 

Poor habits, lack of knowledge or intentional rule-flouting are to blame.

In a bid to avoid waste companies rejecting the city’s recycling, and it ending up in landfill instead, the Christchurch City Council put a team on the streets to randomly spot-check household yellow bins on collection days. 

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF

Residents who get their recycling right get the gold star treatment.

They put gold stickers on those bins with only recyclable items, leave informational brochures for minor mistakes – and stop bins full of non-recyclable goods from being collected.  

READ MORE:
* 10 things that don’t belong in your recycling bin
* Thousands of tonnes of recycling are sent abroad every year – could we fight the war on waste here?

In the first seven days, they’d checked about 2470 yellow bins.

About 2100 broke recycling rules – of which about 690 (a third) had major contamination and were not emptied. Spotters found items including dirty nappies, vacuum cleaner, blinds, bath tiles, a remote control helicopter, a laptop, lawn mower and a dead hedgehog. 

About 1400 had minor errors and nearly 350 received a gold sticker. 

Riccarton man Warren Tichborne was caught out with a few pieces of soft plastics in his yellow bin. 

JAKE KENNY/Stuff

Riccarton man Warren Tichborne says he has a better understanding of what he can recycle now thanks to a visit from the council’s bin inspection team.

In August last year, Stuff reported on where your recycling goes after it’s taken from your yellow bin, finding Christchurch’s soft plastics – which the council defines as anything you can “scrunch in your hand” – were no longer being recycled, even though they could be. Since soft plastics is no longer be recycled in the South Island, the council says thet must go in the red bin.

“I wasn’t sure where it was supposed to go if I’m honest,” Tichborne said. “Now I know in future not to recycle it.”

The “very friendly” bin spotters gave him a leaflet and he now had a better understanding of what could be recycled, he said.

Council solid waste manager Ross Trotter said the auditing showed many residents were recycling well, but soft plastics and failing to remove lids were common mistakes. 

“Some residents are placing general items made from metal or plastic in their yellow bins … or do not take the time to remove food waste from containers,” he said. 

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF

Christchurch City Council solid waste manager Ross Trotter checks out a Riccarton recycling bin.

“We expect to see an improvement in the presentation of recycling when we return.”

Contaminated recycling is a problem in Christchurch, with 12 per cent of the average domestic yellow bin being filled with non-recyclable waste that has to go to landfill. This is sorted using a combination of manual inspection and automated sorting machines. 

The council has a wheelie bins app that tells people what can go in their yellow bin.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF

Riccarton man Warren Tichborne has his yellow bin inspected and discusses its contents with the inspection team.

China announced in 2018 that it would no longer accept the world’s waste, throwing a spanning in the works of global waste management plans. 

Waste experts are looking at ways of dealing with Canterbury’s recycling locally rather than shipping it abroad as those international markets closed up.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, nearly every piece of plastic ever made still exists today.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF

Informational slips are placed on yellow bins that have minor issues with their recycling.

CAN I RECYCLE IT? 

Can be recycled in Christchurch:

– Cardboard such as pizza boxes is good to recycle, just remove any pizza remnants first. Flatten boxes to make room for other recyclables. (Note: Soggy or food-contaminated pizza boxes should go in the green bin.)

– All paper is perfect for the yellow bin, including newspaper, office paper and tissue paper.

– Glass bottles are great when they go into the yellow bin. Some pointers: remove all bottle tops, rinse before placing into the yellow bin. Window or mirror glass goes in your RED bin.

– Steel is one of the most recyclable materials in the world so all household steel cans are welcome in the yellow bin. Rinse them out before placing into the yellow bin. If your can opener separates the lid from the can, place the lid into the RED bin. Maximum size is 3 litres.

– Aluminium cans are very recyclable; drink the contents and pop the can into the yellow bin.

– Most plastic containers and bottles are recyclable. Before they can go into the yellow bin, empty contents and check the underside of the container for a plastic recycling symbol. If there is no recycling symbol, place into the RED bin. Lids also go into the RED bin. Maximum size is 3 litres. 

Can’t be recycled in Christchurch:

– Soft plastics. If you are disposing of soft plastics, place these into the red bin

– Nappies. If you are disposing of nappies, place these into the red bin.

– Hose pipe. If you are throwing away hose pipe, place into the red bin.

– Clothes. Please take unwanted clothes to your local EcoDrop to ensure they get reused.

– Ammunition cannot be recycled through the yellow bin service. Take to your local police station or gun club.

– Gas cylinders cannot be recycled through the yellow bin service. LPG cylinders can be dropped off for free at your local EcoDrop.

– Furniture and wood cannot be recycled through the yellow bin service. 

– Waste oil containers. These need to be disposed of in the red bin or at your local EcoDrop.

– Paint tins are not accepted in the yellow bin.

– Syringes and medical waste. To dispose of these correctly, place them into the red bin or an approved sharps collection bin.

For more information, visit ecocentral.co.nz.

Source: EcoCentral.

Stuff

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