Aucklanders' bad recycling habits see 32,000 tonnes of rubbish sent to landfill over two years

Sunday, 16 June 2019

Of a total of 272,400 tonnes of recycling, 32,300 tonnes was rubbish which then had to be sent to Auckland landfills (file photo).

Nappies, timber and vehicle parts are being dumped in recycling bins, costing ratepayers half a million dollars over the past two financial years.

Of a total of 272,400 tonnes of material placed in Auckland recycling bins, 32,300 tonnes – 11.8 per cent – was rubbish which had to be diverted to landfill.

The most common rubbish items put in recycling bins, by weight, were medical waste, batteries, and black rubbish bags filled with household rubbish.

Clothing and shoes, bedding and linen, garden waste, food scraps, metal and electrical goods have also made it into recycling bins.

Red tags are placed on recycling bins when more than 10 per cent of the items inside are not recyclable. The bin is not emptied.

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Parul Sood, Auckland Council's waste solutions programme director, said one of the worst offenders was soft plastic, which was 'extremely problematic' as it jammed up sorting equipment at the Onehunga recycling facility.

Sood urged Aucklanders to take their soft plastics to one of the 37 stores that were part of the soft plastic recycling programme, which started back up again in the region in May.

One of the worst offenders in recycling bins is soft plastics, which jam up sorting equipment (file photo).

Other offenders were flammable or electrical goods, including gas bottles, e-waste and lithium batteries.

'These can pose health and safety risks on the kerbside, in the trucks - because of the compactors used - and at the [recycling facility],' Sood said.

Parul Sood, Waste Solutions programme director, says Auckland Council prefers to educate people on what can and cannot be recycled, rather than issue fines.

X-boxes and batteries have been known to ignite and set recycling trucks on fire.

To encourage better recycling, the council introduced bin inspectors in July 2016.

In the past two years, the region's seven bin inspectors have put red tags on 31,000 recycling bins that contained more than 10 per cent non-recyclable materials.

But while Wellington City Council blacklisted streets for not recycling properly, Auckland Council chose to educate people on what could and could not be recycled.

Fines were not an option due to legal reasons, Sood said.

Auckland Council was only able to issue 'instant' fines for littering offences under the Litter Act.

Aucklanders putting wrong items in their recycling bin was an offence under the council's Solid Waste Bylaw.

Its 'enforcement powers' for non-compliance are not to collect the bin and, in the case of repeat offenders, to remove the bin.

'This is done after attempts at educating the resident about recycling right, so yes, we focus on education and reform before enforcement,' Sood said.

See Auckland Council's website for what you can put in recycling.