Waste Not Want Not

Waste Not Want Not

New Zealand’s Largest CID Resource Recovery Facility Opens New Plant in Onehunga

New Zealand’s largest construction, industrial and demolition (CID) resource recovery facility today officially opened its new sort line, wood chipping and plasterboard plant in Onehunga, officiated by the Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for Building and Housing and Minister for the Environment, alongside Penny Hulse, deputy mayor of Auckland.

Based in Onehunga, the facility has been established by CID Resource Recovery Ltd, with support from the Ministry for the Environment, to provide new uses for the enormous volumes of building waste that would otherwise end up as landfill.

“More than 70% of the waste produced from a construction site is able to be recycled,” says Bernie Chote, Chairman of CID Resource Recovery. “CID was born out of a vision that there were sustainable alternatives to dumping Auckland’s construction and demolition waste into holes in the ground.”

New home builds generally produce around 4-tonnes of waste per dwelling and with the target set under the Auckland Housing Accord between the Government and the council to consent 39,000 new homes for the city, that’s 156,000-tonnes of waste – around 104,000 standard 9-metre skip bins.

“CIDRR is capable of diverting 109,000 of those tonnes (over 72,000 of those skip bins) into new reuse/recycled materials. If you add commercial new builds in Auckland to the equation those figures would double,” says Chote. “There’s so much waste in the building industry and people don’t realise that what is heading for landfill could easily be recycled.”

Chote believes the goals of zero waste will not be possible unless the national waste levy is strengthened significantly in terms of coverage and amount and is pleased that MfE are currently looking at ways of extending coverage of the levy.

“A stronger levy will not only drive behaviour, but also provide much needed funds to support further recycling initiatives, particularly for materials that are currently not economical to separate,” says Chote. “Recycling is also an engine of urban job creation and we welcome any opportunity to expand our operations, currently running at less than 50% capacity, to provide additional employment and training to young New Zealanders.

The launch event included a series of skip bins showing the amount of timber, wood chip, wallboard, nails and other materials that can be salvaged using the new line. This recovered material is either processed on site or passed on to third parties, who use the recycled materials in a variety of ways.

Pickers at the large sort-line also stood by their stations on the conveyor belt, demonstrating the material handling and waste recovery process. An enormous pile of wood (as big as a rugby field and four storeys high) sat ready to go to the nearby chipping plant, where the wood chip is then taken by a third party to be used as a fuel (instead of coal).

The facility, one of the largest Resource Recovery operations in New Zealand and the only comprehensive construction and demolition waste facility in Auckland was supported by the Auckland Council, who owns the land and Golden Bay Cement, as part of Fletcher Building who partnered with CID.

“It’s dusty, noisy and hazardous,” says Chote, “but, with the right controls and processes, CID can deliver outstanding results.”

ENDS

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