Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Quarter of Wellington's recycling will be sent to landfill

The Seaview recycling plant is operating at reduced capacity as the Omicron outbreak spreads. Photo / Supplied

About a quarter of Wellington's co-mingled recycling will be sent to landfill because staff at the Seaview sorting plant are isolating as a close contact or have tested positive for Covid-19.

Wellington City Council has asked for the public's patience and understanding as the growing Omicron outbreak starts to impact its waste services.

The issue is not an isolated one. As of today, 51 workers across the council have tested positive for the virus and 129 have been identified as close contacts.

On average about 60 per cent of staff who would usually log on to a computer in the office have been logging on from home in the past week.

This afternoon Arapaki Service Centre and Library was closed immediately for a deep clean due to a positive case on site.

The Ministry of Health reported there were 1487 new cases of the virus in the Capital & Coast district health board area today, while 12 were in hospital.

Across the country there were 23,183 new community cases and a total of 503 people in hospital.

In a statement this afternoon the Wellington City Council reported "a number of the team" at the Seaview recycling plant were unable to work due to the virus. This has reduced the plant's operating capacity to 75 per cent with immediate effect until further notice.

About a quarter of the co-mingled recycling collected from the Wellington region will therefore not be recycled, but sent to landfill instead. Glass recycling is unaffected.

The council said it was working hard with operators to ensure all recyclables could be processed again as soon as possible.

"In the meantime, residents who would like to ensure their recycling is recycled have the option of dropping it off at our Recycling Station at the Southern Landfill, or stockpiling recyclables," the council said.

While the processing of recycling is affected, there is currently no major disruption to recycling and rubbish collections.

The council has warned these services could be impacted in the future and in that instance, rubbish collection would be prioritised. This might result in the recycling collection being stopped completely.

The council has said Wellingtonians should expect reduced hours, potentially closed facilities, and other affected services due to the Omicron outbreak.

Critical services like waste collections, funeral and crematoria services, and water maintenance will continue to operate but may be reduced in some areas, and most online services and payments will still be available.