KEY POINTS:
Having taken the trouble to recycle their bottles, cans, plastic and paper, people have the right to assume the best possible use will be made of them.
But that is unlikely to happen in the Auckland and Manukau city councils' new recycling scheme. From next year, they plan to provide households with a 240-litre wheelie bin for all recycled material. The big bin, twice the size of that used for general rubbish, and the "co-mingling" of the items before their mechanical sorting at a recycling plant, are designed to encourage recycling.
So it may, but that will be of limited use if much of the product is unsuitable for that purpose.
The alarm has been sounded by the Glass Packaging Forum, which says this method of collection has resulted in contamination of materials, especially paper, and increased volumes of glass not fit for use by glass manufacturers. Otherwise-recyclable glass is having to be sent to landfills.
Clearly, this would be a major waste in view of the strong market for glass recycling.
This criticism has led the Environment Minister, David Benson-Pope, to warn the councils not to sacrifice quality for cost efficiency. His advice should not have been necessary.
Co-mingling certainly reduces collection costs, but problems associated with it suggest the need for prudence. The councils should stick to kerbside sorting from crates while awaiting the final verdict on the method overseas, and on the North Shore and Waitakere, where glass breakage is already acknowledged to be a problem.
Meanwhile, they could advance the cause of recycling by accelerating plans to introduce a wheelie bin for food scraps and garden waste. In terms of volume and potential use, that material is an extremely suitable case for treatment.
