Waipā District Council has already reported ongoing contamination in January - since then it has become worse. Photo / Supplied
Waipā District Council has already reported ongoing contamination in January - since then it has become worse. Photo / Supplied
Waipā District Council has suspended recycling services to more than 25 households that don't properly sort their waste and repeatedly contaminate their recycling wheelie bins, costing ratepayers thousands of dollars.
In January, the council reported increasing contamination in the wheelie bins and warned residents to recycle correctly. At that stage, the council had suspended recycling services to 13 households. This week the number of offending households with services halted was 25.
As a consequence of the ongoing contamination, almost half of the district's recycling is going to landfill, costing the council and ratepayers around $40,000 in January – an increase from around $33,000 late last year.
The costs include transporting the material to landfill, disposal costs and the loss of revenue from otherwise good product which could have been sold on the recycling market.
Waipā District Council operations team leader Jennifer Braithwaite says: "There are people in our communities who are deliberately putting contamination into their wheelie bins. After the third occasion, the offending properties had their recycling service suspended."
Waipa District Council has suspended more than 25 households from recycling collection services. Photo / Supplied
The contamination included fish, clothing, used medical supplies and general waste - and was found on more than two occasions at each of the properties during routine bin inspections.
"Until we can get this issue under control, we will continue to suspend recycling services if necessary and crack down on those who try to flout the recycling rules.
There is a big difference between someone accidentally putting in a No 4 plastic container into their recycling bin and putting dirty nappies or old clothes in there," says Braithwaite.
"In the first instance, the council would take an educative approach to deal with the issue. However, the latter is very clearly non-recyclable and will result in the suspension of a service."
Those who have had their service suspended are required to sign a pledge, agreeing to only put clean and correct recycling into their bins, which will be considered by council staff.
Properties who have their recycling service reinstated will be added to a "red list" and their bins checked prior to any future collections.
Braithwaite said the council was also considering a number of other options such as increasing bin inspections to tackle the issue.
"We are observing what has worked for other councils and considering a number of other options to try to reduce contamination.
"However, we need the help of all residents to deal with this. I strongly encourage anyone to report instances of people putting contamination into their recycling bins and we will investigate."
Residents can report instances of contamination by contacting Waipā District Council on 0800 924 723.
