Green look to blue and yellow bins

New wheelie bins for recyclables are delivered to homes at West Harbour yesterday. Picture / Brett Phibbs

The struggle out to the gate with a recycle bin full of bottles, cans and plastics will soon be a thing of the past for householders of North Shore and Waitakere.

Delivery began yesterday of a wheelie bin for recyclables.

About 145,000 of the blue and yellow mobile bins are being assembled in the streets and given free to householders over the next few weeks.

The two councils are the first in New Zealand to bring in recycling collections with the 140-litre bins, said Waitakere City councillor Janet Clews.

From July 1, they replace the present 45-litre recycle bins.

Mrs Clews said the wheelie bins were likely to encourage people to reduce waste and to recycle more, going by overseas experience.

The bins and paper for recycling will be collected fortnightly instead of the present weekly collection.

Paper and cardboard must be bundled separately beside the bin and will also now be collected fortnightly.

North Shore City councillor Chris Darby said the bins would reduce street litter because the present open-top bin allows lighter plastics to blow away in the wind. The mobile bins were also safer for the user's back.

The councils says the old bins cannot be used past the starting date for the mobile bins service.

People can choose whether to give their old bin back to the council.

Waitakere council is keen to have its old bins back.

Council solid waste manager Jon Roscoe said the bin itself could be recycled because it was made of high-grade plastic.

Next year, Mr Roscoe hopes the Waitakere council will approve a plan to introduce a collection of household food scraps for processing at the council's composting plant.

The old Waitakere bins can be fitted with lids and used in a pilot service for 10,000 homes in Waitakere and North Shore.

"As the cost of putting household rubbish into land fills increases, we can justify the cost of offering this service to more people," said Mr Roscoe.

Waitakere and North Shore have joined to share the new recycle service provided by Onyx Group.

Mrs Clews said the councils would save money by sharing services. Waitakere would save $700,000 a year over the 10 years of the $60 million contract.

New trucks with crane-like mechanical arms will lift and empty the bins. The cargo will be sorted at the Henderson transfer station instead of collection staff doing it while on the road.

Cameras mounted on the truck will also screen each bin before it is emptied to check the contents are not household rubbish. A rejection will result in a council officer visiting the offending household and the possibility of being prosecuted.

What the bins take

* Plastic bottles with symbols 1 or 2; milk and soft drink bottles, laundry, cleaning & body care bottles.

* Drink cans, pet food and other tins.

* Glass jars, wine and beer bottles.