Whanganui letters: Contamination reduces recycling success

Cr Rob Vinsen says less than 1 per cent of the product collected at the Resource Recovery Centre in Maria Pl is not reused or reprocessed. Photo / Bevan Conley

Letters to the Editor

Graham Hawtree (Letters, March 17) has misinterpreted the Fair Go story on recycling. They were not talking about a kerbside collection – they were talking about public recycling bins.

Yes, it is unfortunate that high contamination means most councils have chosen either to exit public recycling bins or to simply treat them as refuse. In Whanganui, we have these bins in two places only – outside the i-Site and at Majestic Square. The Resource Recovery Centre clears the bins and attempts to sort the uncontaminated recycling products from the refuse – but, frankly, whether that carries on must be reviewed. It is fibre that is worst affected by contamination, so it may be pragmatic to collect bottles/cans only and landfill the rest.

Kerbside collections also get contaminated, but at a much lower level than public bins. In Whanganui, we expect to use crates rather than co-mingled bins for our new service as the contamination rate is 50 per cent less. Self-sorting is the cleanest way, of course. Less than 1 per cent of the product collected at Maria Pl is not reused or reprocessed, so I can assure you that recycling is environmentally beneficial.

Cr ROB VINSEN

Waste Advisory Group chairman, Whanganui District Council

New plan old-school

As a retired teacher, I viewed the National Party’s Education Plan and, if by chance, they became the next government, came to the conclusion we had better dig up all the old pens and nibs and the desks with holes in the corner to place the ink wells... oh, almost forgot, and the blotters.

KEN CARVELL

Whanganui

Increasing costs unaffordable

Well, the front page of the Chronicle (March 22) reveals there are large increases in property valuations in Whanganui. So, what does this mean? It means all of us ratepayers are going to be asked to pay a lot more in rates, right?

This comes on top of the huge increase in the cost of living prices that we are now forced to pay. Some sympathy has to be granted to those of us on a fixed income who are being asked to pay the increased costs - and let’s not forget the council wants to add about another $134-plus per year to fund the kerbside recycling.

Where is this going to end? Could it be that there will be a lot of folk struggling with costs out there who just simply won’t be able to continue living in this town? Does this council really care about our citizens?

GRAHAM HAWTREE

Whanganui

TV news drops the ball

What the hell is wrong with this country when the lead item on the 6pm news is the appointment of the new All Blacks coach? We have huge issues after Cyclone Gabrielle and global greenie issues, not to mention the escalation of juvenile ram-raiding crime. But no... rugby is continuing its religious hold on the brain-dead fans who cannot see past their dedication to a dying sport which is becoming farcical to all those who have a realistic outlook on life.

D PARTNER

Eastown