Attempted theft of copper cables at Tararua Wind farm irresponsible: SMRANZ

The attempted theft of copper cables at the Tararua Wind farm is concerning according to the Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand (SMRANZ).

Korina Munro, the President of the Scrap Metal Recycling Association of New Zealand says “It’s unfortunate that individual’s would take such a risk to obtain copper in this manner. Obviously the prospect of netting cash for any copper they were able to take overshadowed the risks involved, and they are very lucky they did not lose their lives.”

While copper theft is common when prices for this metal are high, thefts of such a risky nature are unusual for New Zealand.

“We do hear of similar thefts from our industry counterparts overseas, especially when copper is involved, but thieves in New Zealand tend to target easier items such as copper spouting.”

Ms. Munro notes that had the thieves been successful they would have had difficulties selling the cable as items of this nature would have resulted in questions being asked.

“Our members run professional facilities and are well experienced in spotting stolen metals. We also have an extremely effective stolen reporting system for metals which was established in conjunction with the New Zealand Police. Obviously we can’t speak for scrap metal dealers who are not SMRANZ members, but I am confident that had this type of product turned up in one of our member’s yards red flags would have been raised with or without a stolen notification.”

Metals theft is one of the reasons why SMRANZ is currently reviewing the current legislation that governs its industry. “At present scrap metal recyclers are lumped in with Secondhand Dealers and Pawnbrokers and we feel there are numerous benefits arising from an industry specific Act.”

ENDS

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