Tauranga leaders keen to fix glass recycling issue

Councillor Steve Morris has concerns about recycling after changes by local service providers to exclude glass. Photo/file

A Tauranga City Council-funded kerbside recycling service could be fast-tracked to address community concern at waste management changes.

From today, 1 March 2018, Tauranga's kerbside collection services will no longer accept glass in recycling bins.

The decision, made by private kerbside collection providers under the Waste Management umbrella, has upset residents and concerned the council, as the decision will likely result in more glass ending up in landfill.

Councillor Steve Morris, chair of the Environment Committee, said when a city had privately-led kerbside collection services, as Tauranga did, it was vulnerable to business decisions.

"We totally understand that privately-owned and -operated collection companies need to make business decisions based on economics. But as a city we need to look at the impact of this decision on the environment too.

A Tauranga City Council-funded kerbside recycling service could be fast-tracked to address community concern at waste management changes. Photo/file

"The Long Term Plan 2018-2028 proposes to maximise recycling and minimise the amount of waste the city sends to landfill in the form of a rates-funded, council-managed kerbside collection service."

The proposed rates-funded waste and recycling collection service would provide mixed recycling, organic (garden and/or food waste) and rubbish collections to all Tauranga households.

It would enable and encourage all residents to recycle more and send less waste to landfill. The service would accept glass for recycling as well as aim to recycle a broader range of materials, such as all plastics.

"In order for council to introduce this service, the proposal needs to be accepted into the Council's 2018-2028 Long Term Plan, which opens for public consultation on 16 March.

"We hope the community will have their say about our proposed rates-funded service," Morris said.

If accepted into the 2018-28 Long Term Plan, the rates-funded service would not begin until 2021 due to the lead time required to deliver such a comprehensive service across the whole city.

However, the council will consider a paper next Wednesday on whether to provide a rates-funded glass collection service sooner as an interim solution.

For now, residents are encouraged to take their glass to either the Maleme Street or Te Maunga transfer station for recycling. Glass received at the city's transfer stations is taken to Auckland where it is recycled into new glass products.

Glass can also be recycled at Waste Management Ltd's glass recycling stations.