Syringes, toys and appliances found in Matamata-Piako recycling bins
SUPPLIED
Contamination collected from recycling wheelie bins in Matamata-Piako.
An array of syringes, soft toys, soft plastics and broken appliances were the most common items incorrectly put into kerbside recycling bins over the last six weeks in Matamata-Piako.
The “concerning” items were discovered during a district-wide recycling audit at transfer stations to determine if residents understood the changes council made to recycling in June this year.
Plastic grades 3 to 7 are no longer recyclable after China banned the import of most plastics in January 2018 – they had collected nearly half of the world’s recyclable waste for the past quarter century.
Matamata councillor Adrienne Wilcock said the discovery of multiple epi-pens and syringes is concerning, especially as recycling is sorted by hand.
READ MORE:
* Waimakariri council considers confiscating bins from repeat recycling offenders
* Newcomers to shake up a previously uncontested Matamata-Piako District Council
* Vaping and smoking to be banned in Matamata-Piako district
“We have been actively communicating these changes across many different channels district wide … it’s also very disheartening to see so much general rubbish thrown in with recycling.”
A car seat belt – also incorrectly added to a wheelie bin – got stuck in the conveyor belt and locked it up for four hours, she said.
People were storing plastics “in the hopes the market would re-open, but this never happened”.
SUPPLIED
Soft plastics (food packaging, bubble and cling wrap and courier packaging), soft toys, nappies and syringes were among the common items discovered in wheelie bins.
“I am shocked some people consider them recyclable and even more so that they are discarded of so casually.”
Rubbish thrown into wheelie bins contaminates the whole load.
“Recycling is sorted by hand and it’s time-consuming for it to be separated out, so the entire load it’s collected with is all sent to landfill, even the correct recycling,” Wilcock said.
“If it’s plastic and has a 1-2 in the triangle, clean it and put it in the wheelie bin. If it has a different number, a triangle without a number or you can’t tell which number is it, please put it in general rubbish, along with bottle tops and pump and spray attachments.
“It’s our aim to be zero waste by 2038 when the Tirohia Landfill closes – one way to achieve this is to encourage people to divert more rubbish from landfill, recycle correctly to reduce contamination and look for reusable and sustainable alternatives to the plastics no longer recyclable.”
Stuff
Original Source