Alden Williams/Stuff
Christchurch residents are putting the right things in their yellow bins, meaning none had to be sent to landfill during the last two weeks of September.
Christchurch residents have finally learnt a valuable life skill: do not put rubbish in your recycling bin.
That means for the first time in two years, none of the city’s recycling had to be sent to landfill for a fortnight.
“I want to say a big thank you to all those residents who have made an effort to ensure they are only putting the correct items out for recycling,” said Lynette Ellis, the council’s waste boss.
“Your actions are making a difference.”
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Any recycling truck that collects more than 10% rubbish has to dump its contents, as the material is no longer a high enough quality to sell as recycling.
JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF
Recycling or rubbish – what goes in which bins in Greater Christchurch? And what happens to those plastic lids that seem to be recyclable? (Video first published November 2020)
In the last two weeks of September, all 271 truckloads of collected kerbside recycling were recycled, as all were under the 10% limit.
Ellis said getting through two weeks with no contaminated truckloads meant less material would end up in the Kate Valley landfill in North Canterbury.
In Christchurch, Yellow bins are collected once a fortnight.
Recycling contamination has been a problem in the city since about May 2020, just after the end of the first Covid-19 lockdown.
John Kirk-Anderson/Stuff
Contaminated recycling is taken to the Kate Valley landfill in North Canterbury. This picture was taken in 2014.
With the city’s recycling facility closed, the Christchurch City Council told residents they could put rubbish in their yellow bins.
The council warned it was a temporary measure, but not everyone stopped once recycling resumed.
In June 2020, 51% of recycling truckloads went to landfill – and thousands more followed in the months afterward.
By September 2021, the bill for diverting to landfill stood at more than $2.2 million.
The numbers have improved. This year, between 2% and 12% of monthly truckloads have ended up in landfill.
STACY SQUIRES/Stuff
In September, just 2% of recycling truckloads had to be taken to landfill. (File photo)
September was the best month of the year, where just 2% of all truckloads were diverted.
The council has previously confiscated yellow bins from some residents over poor recycling habits.
Contamination was caused by food scraps, soft plastics, gas bottles, clothing, full rubbish bags, small appliances, tools, hazardous waste and garden waste.
By September 2021, the council had taken away more than 1300 bins. Each person was warned three times before it happened.
Council staff have checked more than 270,000 bins for compliance and awarded at least 72,000 residents with gold stars for excellent recycling.
