South Waikato district council follows Waikato region with changes to recycling

Russell Ensor, South Waikato mayor Jenny Shattock and David Foote at the Thompson Street e-waste site. Photo / South Waikato Council

South Waikato district council has been forced to change the way its recycling following in the same fashion of other councils around the region.

Councils across the Waikato have been forced to change how to recycle due to overseas markets putting a halt on taking low value plastics.

South Waikato Achievement Trust (SWAT) and South Waikato District Council have worked together to deliver the best solution for the South Waikato community.

From November 1, the Croad Place recycling facility will be closed to the public. District recycling, both from household recycling crates and the drop-off facilities will continue to be collected by EnviroWaste and will be processed at the large commercial Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Hamilton.

SWAT will continue with its commercial cardboard recycling contracts from Croad Place; and e-waste and kindling/firewood from the Thompson St site.

"Council and SWAT have enjoyed a tremendous partnership for close to three decades," said Mayor Jenny Shattock.

"This relationship has meant that together we can find the best solution for our community going forward."

"Council has long backed SWAT in the achievement of its goals," said SWAT chief executive officer, Russel Ensor.

"We have been extremely fortunate to have such a good and long-standing relationship. It is time for SWAT to bow out of recycling processing as it is simply no longer commercially viable for our small organisation. This arm of our organisation has been supported by council for a number of years and that is no longer the best solution for our community.

"This change allows SWAT to improve delivery and increase our client base for other arms of our operations," said Mr Ensor.

"The model used by large recycling centres is more cost-effective and efficient than we can deliver in the current waste management climate. The MRF in Hamilton takes recycling from the wider region. Economies of scale is a huge driver for the change."

From November 1, all district recycling including plastics, tins, glass and household cardboard and paper will be transported to Hamilton by Council's collection contractor EnviroWaste.

"We are pleased that this change has not resulted in job losses at SWAT."

SWAT currently processes e-waste recycling from Wellington to Hamilton. Their staff process around 95 per cent of e-waste products from their Thompson St facility.

"We currently sell around 140 bags of dry logs each week," said Mr Ensor. "We have demand for more, so we are looking forward to growth in this area with our increased capacity."

The public recycling centre servicing the Tokoroa Ward and wider South Waikato will be at the brand new Tokoroa Transfer Station facility that is currently under construction. The recycling area at this facility will be larger and more efficient. Public recycling drop-off will no longer be available at Croad Place.