30 October 2018

More recycling and rubbish bins will be installed around the country in time for summer with the accepted standard colour codes.

The bins will be installed in Clutha, Dunedin, Mackenzie District, New Plymouth and Whakatane and follows the successful implementation of the technology in Marlborough, Queenstown Lakes, Rotorua, Tauranga and Wellington this year as part of a campaign to encourage Kiwis to “Let’s put litter in its place”.

The 44 new concept bins, manufactured in Wellington by AE Tilley, incorporate best practice features to make it easier for people to distinguish their recycling from their rubbish. These include national consistency about the colour of the bins; use of multiple languages and clear signage; as well as utilising technology to reduce overflow and make collection systems more efficient.

The campaign has been developed by The Packaging Forum which promotes recycling under the Government’s Love NZ brand and The Auckland Litter Prevention Steering Group which manages the Be a Tidy Kiwi brand. This is also supported by many councils around the country and the New Zealand Transport Agency and KiwiRail.

Richard Leckinger, Program Manager for Be a Tidy Kiwi said the design of bins or ‘binfrastructure’ influences how people use them.

“In the past, bins have been designed to be part of the streetscape and blend in, when what we have needed are eye-catching bins that use the recycling and waste colours which have been agreed nationally. As well as introducing standard colours, pilot regions have also chosen signage including Chinese, Korean, Hindi and Japanese as well as English and Te Reo,” says Leckinger.

“New Plymouth has also included a lime green food waste bin to enable people to dispose of their food scraps on the go.”

Lyn Mayes, Project Manager for The Packaging Forum says that the colours and signage are working.

“We’ve studied the results from the initial pilot regions. 79% of what is put in the recycling bins is correct and for glass the only bins there is a 96% accurate performance. We’ve made some changes to the signage for the new bins to help improve performance,” Mayes said.

“We’ve also introduced a range of smaller sized 80 litre bins for where space is at a premium and a moveable “bin-frame” which Mt Roskill Intermediate School will be trialling as a more cost- effective and mobile solution for schools.”

“Our technology partner EYEfi has further enhanced the smart units which provide an alert system to the collector so that they are emptied on demand not on a schedule. We’re very excited by the potential for this technology”.

The $2.4 million project has received $1.72 million funding from The Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund with a national advertising and consumer awareness campaign “Let’s put litter in its place – it’s just how we do things around here” supporting this investment in infrastructure.
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