Kevin Weir at the new large plastics recycling system at the Te Maunga Transfer Station.
More than a fifth of Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty kerbside recycling is estimated to end up in landfill, councils say.
An expert in minimising waste says contamination by “disgusting” and “outrageous” unwashed or non-recyclables is an avoidable part of the costly problem.
Information obtained through the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act revealed the cost of Tauranga’s landfill disposal and transport in the past financial year was $1.18 million, up from $787,969 the year before.
Fenwick, who featured on TV’s Eat Well for Less and regularly runs waste workshops throughout New Zealand, has sifted through waste at Tauranga’s Te Maunga’s recycling facility and experienced first-hand the levels of contamination in recycling.
“The last time we were there we were looking at bags of dog poo, bags of disposable rubbish, soiled nappies, appliances.
“It’s quite outrageous what people try to hide in their recycling bin, or don’t know they can’t put in there,” she said.
People were putting meat trays with juices “still wrapped up in it” and quarter-filled bottles of rotting milk, “especially in summer”.
“It’s disgusting.”
Fenwick said she felt many people did not realise all recycling was sorted by hand in Tauranga and the Western Bay.
Contaminated waste also contaminated recycling items around it, meaning more than just the original offending item had to be transferred to landfill instead of being recycled.
Official information showed that at one point, an entire Tauranga recycling truck’s contents weighing 4.38 tonnes were sent to landfill instead of being recycled because of contamination.
Kate Fenwick (nee Meads) is a Katikati local who educates Kiwis on food and packaging waste. Photo / Alex Cairns
Fenwick said this ultimately cost more in time and money.
If everyone rinsed their recyclable items first and sorted waste into the correct bins, it would make a significant difference, she said.
“A lot of people blame the councils but they have no control over what you put in your bin or how you put it in your bin.
“Consumers need to do better. You can’t just wish-recycle.”
Wish-cycling is the disposal of waste in a recycle bin in hopes of it being recycled, when it cannot or is unlikely to be recycled.
Tauranga and Western Bay councils launched new kerbside collection services in July 2021. Both offer separate bins for rubbish, recycling, glass and food scraps.
In total, 6134t of recycling was collected from Tauranga addresses in the past financial year, up from 5645t the year before, Tauranga City Council said.
An estimated 23 per cent of kerbside recycling collected was put into landfill instead because the items were contaminated or not recyclable.
Council democracy services team leader Kath Norris said this was based on sampling of Tauranga trucks that started in January.
Norris said the council estimated volumes of recycling rejected would have been the same in the prior year, when Covid-19 outbreaks also led to 6 per cent of all kerbside recycling ending up in landfill.
In total, 17,719t of waste was taken to landfill in the past financial year, up from 17,239t the year before.
The volume of glass recycling collected increased from 4107 tonnes to 4220 tonnes in the same period. None of this went into landfill.
Use of food-scraps bins dropped last year compared to the previous year, while the volume of garden waste – an optional bin – collected increased.
Norris said food scraps collections were also impacted by Covid outbreaks and restrictions.
Tauranga's yellow-topped bins are meant for recycling while the red-topped bins are meant for general waste. Photo / George Novak
“We will be promoting the benefits of using the food scraps bin in our community more over the next year to help continue growing this collection.”
In the neighbouring Western Bay of Plenty, 5070t of waste was collected kerbside and sent to landfill and 1778t of recycling was collected from yellow-top bins.
Of the recycling, an average of 21 per cent was sent to landfill due to contamination.
The council recycled 1458t of glass collected and 456t of food scraps.
Council general manager of infrastructure Cedric Crow said 42 per cent of kerbside waste had been diverted from landfill.
It cost $313,021 to use landfills in the past year compared to $150,920 the year before.
The cost of recycling was $249,212 up from $133,713.
Under Ministry for the Environment regulations, all New Zealand councils are expected to standardise their recycling services by February 2024 and collect food scraps by 2030.
This was aimed at reducing the amount of household waste going to landfill that could be recycled or composted instead while also reducing emissions from landfill waste.
Rubbish from red-lid bins is taken to Maleme St transfer station for consolidation, then trucked to Hampton Downs landfill
Recycling from yellow lid bins is taken to Te Maunga material recovering facility, sorted and baled to be sent to end markets such as: Plastics type 1 go to Flight Plastics, Wellington; Plastics 2 and 5 go to Astron, Replas, Aotearoa NZ Made, Comspec; Cardboard goes to local mills, paper goes to Hawk Packaging in Hastings; Tin and aluminium cans go to local metal dealers
Glass from blue crates is taken to Te Maunga for consolidation and trucks to Visy, Auckland
Garden waste from green lid bins and food scraps from small green bins are taken to Te Maunga for consolidation and trucked to a Hampton Downs compost facility. It is then on-sold locally to help grow new food in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato
Some materials that cannot be recycled in New Zealand are sent to offshore companies mostly in Asia to be turned into food trays, container board, new LDPE film, school books, newsprint, and picture frames and mouldings.
