Trial recycling centre out of sorts as diverted waste falls short

Friday, 17 August 2018

Council operations and maintenance engineer Stephen Rooney at the conveyor belt at the Waste Sorting Centre in Blenheim.

Under the watchful eyes of councils across the country, Marlborough has played guinea pig to a recycling experiment hoping to reduce our landfill habits.

The $3.3 million Waste Sorting Centre, in Blenheim, was touted as a game-changer; the first time a local authority had built a waste sorting plant for commercial and industrial waste.

Waste destined for landfill at the Waste Sorting Centre.

The Marlborough District Council said in 2016, just before the centre opened, it would share its recycling journey 'warts and all' with other councils, as it looked to divert 60 per cent of waste away from landfill.

But this year's figures show the centre still has work to do, having diverted just 41 per cent of waste for recycling or reuse.

The $3.3 million Waste Sorting Centre in Blenheim.

Materials that can be reused or recycled are placed on, and plucked from, moving belts.

* Council pledges $84,000 to rural recyclers

* Road to redemption for rural recyclers**

More than 1500 tonnes of rubble was collected at the sorting centre, 15 per cent of all waste diverted from landfill.

Council operations and maintenance engineer Stephen Rooney said the 41 per cent was still a 'good effort', and the centre would continue to build towards its 60 per cent target.

'More diversion will be achievable as markets become available for more products and there is further education among the community as to what can be diverted,' Rooney said.

Treated wood was the centre's second highest reusable, with 1053 tonnes, or 10 per cent of all waste.

Marlborough received a government grant of $776,000 in April 2015 to help finish the centre.

Once constructed, the plant accepted mixed loads of waste, and sorted cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, brick, soil, rubble, wood and plasterboard.

Materials that can't be recycled or reused end up at Bluegums Landfill, south of Blenheim.

Workers at a conveyor belt grabbed any items that could be saved from landfill.

The saved recyclables were then either sent out to be reused in the community or sold on to existing recycling markets around the globe.

The centre processed about 10,000 tonnes of waste this year, with 4129 tonnes flagged for recycling.

The waste centre only took materials dropped off by the public and skip companies. It did not sort through the council plastic bags or bins collected from the kerbside.

The biggest finds this year, June to July, were rubble, treated wood, cardboard and metals.

About 1500 tonnes of rubble, or soil, concrete and bricks were saved from landfill for reuse around town.

Rooney said he expected it was the largest quantity diverted as it was denser and therefore weighed more than other products.

'It is used as construction fill, [though] if there is clean soil it can be used for gardens,' Rooney said.

Treated wood was the centre's second highest find, with 1053 tonnes, or 10 per cent of the centre's waste for the year, rescued from landfill.

The vast majority of wood was construction cutoffs, demolition debris and old or broken vineyard posts, Rooney said.

'This timber can be used for garden edging, and light maintenance when the timber lengths are long enough,' he said.

'While this material is being taken out of the waste stream there is more stockpiled than we can find uses for.

'Periodically we may have to dispose of this material to landfill until we develop markets for it.'

Members of the public were not allowed to burn treated wood in their log fires at home, so a large amount ended up at landfill.

Rooney said a now-scrapped pyrolysis plant idea would have provided an 'end use' for treated wood in the region.

But the public said during the plant's resource consent process that the pyrolysis plant was not an acceptable solution, Rooney said.

About 570 tonnes of metal was also saved from landfill, with the majority being fencing material and 'all manner of steel', Rooney said.

The metal was sold off onto recycling markets around the globe, as was the 250 tonnes of cardboard the centre had rescued.

'This cardboard often comes from commercial operators who bring skip material in,' Rooney said.

Other regions had similar waste sorting services, though these were privately-owned and operated.

The centre's introduction was expected to add 13 years to the lifespan of Bluegums landfill, south of Blenheim.

Bluegums would last until 2068, but landfill usage was anticipated to drop as more recycling measures came into effect and extend the longevity of the site.

Rooney said the centre future-proofed the community against a reliance on landfill.

'Prior to the Waste Sorting Centre all of this material would have ended up in the landfill.'

Saved from landfill (tonnes):

Plastics: 2

Tyres: 38

Whiteware: 104

Mixed paper: 107

Untreated wood: 114