12 November 2013
Rubbish and recycling route changes. How does it affect you?

Rubbish and recycling collection runs in Palmerston North are being consolidated to accommodate past and future city growth and bring costs down.

Palmerston North City Council rubbish and recycling engineer, Natasha Simmons, says the changes start on Monday, 25 November and will affect 75 per cent of residents.

“It’s the first major route change in over 20 years,” says Natasha. “During that time the City has grown and populations have shifted, making our current routes inefficient.”

“Some days of the week it’s nearly impossible for us to complete the route within an eight hour timeframe – Some days our trucks are out until 6pm in the evening.”

Council IT staff used computer mapping and modeling to create the new routes which Natasha says will be safer, more fuel efficient and allow us to recycle more glass.

“We’ve been able to minimise the number of right turns our trucks take which will make it safer for all road users. We’ve also tracked the most fuel efficient route to reduce fuel costs and Council’s carbon footprint.”

Natasha Simmons says Council staff have also taken into account the effect of potential future growth in the Whakarongo area to prevent us from having to change the routes again for many years to come.”

“It’s important to remember that collection of PNCC rubbish bags will still occur every week, and collection of the recycling wheelie bins and the glass collection crates will continue to alternate weekly on the same day as the rubbish collection.”

“We’re writing to everyone affected by the change to advise them of what they need to know,” says Natasha. “We’ve included stickers printed with your new collection day and/or week for your bin and crate. Please place the new labels over the existing labels on your bin and crate.”

Only those affected by the change will receive a letter. If you don’t receive a letter then your collection dates and week remain the same.

If you require more information then please visit Rubbish and Recycling Collection Routes at pncc.govt.nz or call the Recycling Hotline on 351 6399 and talk through the changes with our customer service team members.

In the initial stages of the change-over some people might find they have two glass collections in a row leading to a build up of other recyclables, or two weeks in a row of recycling leading to a build up of glass. Hopefully this won’t cause any inconvenience, but if you end up with excess cardboard, paper, plastic, tins or glass then you can drop them off at the Recycling Centres in Ferguson St, Awapuni, Bunnythorpe or Ashhurst.

ENDS

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