Recycling up, rubbish down
August 7, 2006

North Shore residents are being praised for their traditionally positive response to the city’s latest recycling initiative.

They have used their new blue and yellow wheelie bins to recycle 22,250 tonnes of glass, steel and plastic over the past year –almost half of all waste.

North Shore City Council’s waste minimisation team leader, Bradley Nolan, thanks the community for making the first year of the city’s new waste collection contract a success.

“We collected seven per cent more recyclables in the big blue bins, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by some 1,400 tonnes.

“Residents also threw out 16 per cent less in the inorganic collection this year,” he says.

The council introduced a new waste collection service in July 2005, a cost reduction initiative with neighbouring Waitakere City. Residents and businesses took some time to adapt to the new bins, fleet and collection runs, and by the year’s end had recycled 46 per cent of all waste.

Mr Nolan says people recycled more glass, aluminium cans and plastic bottles than ever before, a trend he predicts will continue.

North Shore City Council introduced the country’s first citywide kerbside recycling service in 1990 and the community has sustained its enthusiasm for recycling initiatives over the years.

ENDS

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