7 August 2018

The Hurunui District is more than pulling its weight when it comes to waste and recycling, with the latest 2017/18 figures showing a record low level of recycling contamination.

The district had an average 2.7 percent contamination rate for its recycling in the 2017/18 year, significantly lower than the 10 percent permitted by Canterbury’s EcoSort facility. Remarkably the lowest rate achieved during a month was an impressive 0.18 percent.

Waste Minimisation Team Leader, Sally Cracknell, says these figures are superb and are something the district can be particularly proud of.

“In addition to this, the 2017/18 year also saw a massive improvement when it came to reducing the amount of waste that went to landfill, with the amount of recycled material increasing by 18 percent from 1422 tonnes in the previous year to 1684 tonnes.”

“These figures show we are meeting our objectives set out in the council’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, by providing residents and visitors with highly efficient and cost effective waste management services.”

“I hope we can continue to increase our diversion of waste from landfill, with initiatives such as our education programme rollout in schools leaving a lasting impression on the next generation of residents,” Cracknell says.

The EcoSort facility in Christchurch receives all the recycling from Christchurch, Selwyn, Waimakariri and Hurunui Districts where it is automatically sorted, baled and sold as reclaimed material. Some of the materials are shipped overseas and some are sent for reuse within New Zealand.

Mayor Winton Dalley says thanks to the high quality of recycling done by Hurunui residents, the district’s recycling is able to be processed more efficiently by the EcoSort facility.

“Our low contamination rate and high amount of recycling means our efforts can more easily benefit from the sorting that gets done at the facility.”

“All of the work done by our residents at the kerbside along with our new waste minimisation initiatives such as hazardous waste drops offs and Agrecovery facilities, means we are truly doing our bit for the environment,” Mayor Dalley says.

The Hurunui District Council would like to thank its residents for the work being done to diligently sort their waste and for the contribution they make to the district’s efforts to increase its diversion of waste from landfill.

ends

© Scoop Media