Extra recycling truck on the cards to cope with growing volumes

Friday, 1 December 2017

Overflowing recycling crates, with empty milk cartons teetering on top (you know who you are), are becoming a headache in Marlborough. 

One solution could be an extra kerbside recycling truck on the road from July next year, but of course that costs money - likely a targeted rate increased from $45 to $62.

Along with that, extra recycling crates are also on the cards. But don't rejoice just yet; if you want one, you have to buy one.  

The Marlborough District Council is looking at ways to better cope with excess recycling on existing kerbside routes in Blenheim and Picton.

**READ MORE:

* Wheelie bins could be rolled out for parts of Marlborough

* How to recycle your plastic bags, when recycling can still mean landfill 

* Soft plastics contaminate kerbside recycling bins in Nelson-Tasman

* China's waste import ban makes recycling costly for NZ businesses**

A report to the council's assets and services committee showed the additional cost of an extra truck to Blenheim was $156,291 a year and $50,561 for Picton.

Bumping the targeted rate from $45 to $62 meant a 38 per cent increase for everyone.

Council solid waste manager Alec McNeil said adding a 'sweep through' compactor truck with a runner had been considered, but was not priced as it could encourage bad habits.

'This was viewed as a potential increase in the level of service that may lead to oversized recycling, particularly cardboard, being placed at the kerb and an increase in the potential for littering and illegal dumping,' McNeil said.

Christchurch company Metallic Sweeping Ltd took over the collection contract in 2011, and Marlborough manager Trevor Sheldon had been collecting domestic rubbish for 40 years. 

Sheldon said they were contracted to empty the crate. He repeated the council's kerbside recycling litany; 'If it's not in the crate, it's left at the gate'.

'People put empties from parties alongside the crate. Or they buy something in a box and they fold up the big bit of cardboard and leave it alongside the bin,' Sheldon said.

He said Marlborough's northwesterly winds blew excess rubbish around, 'but it's not too bad'.

'That would happen with wheelie bins, the bins would get blown around. We cope with the wind by putting a couple of extra people out or an extra one on the truck and they pick up stuff that's blown around.'

'We service about 13,500 houses each week and we get the odd complaint or odd thing that happens but generally on an average it's minimal. You get a few dirty crates or food in them, but it's not a common occurrence for the volume we do. People here are on a par with anywhere else.'

Councillor Jenny Andrews said some councillors might not like the suggested cost increases, and she had no complaints from residents about the existing services.

'We will hear if something really irks them,' Andrews said.

She said if households had extra recycling, such as cardboard or polystyrene from packaging, it was their responsibility to get it to the recycling centre.

'It's only a one-off thing. We've got a really slick service. I take my hat off to the guys doing the collection. They're great guys. There's not many of us would be jumping up and down on that truck.'

'We're very lucky. Our recycling centre is very close to the main community. It's not like we have to drive 15km to drop stuff off, it's only a couple of [kilometres] down the road. In all aspects we are really well covered,' Andrews said. 

'I'm also impressed with the way elderly folk have got on board with recycling. It's great the way it's taken off.' 

The recommendation for an extra recycling truck will go to full council on December 14.