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Joseph Johnson / Stuff
Contaminated recycling bins have cost Christchurch City Council nearly $ 1.5 million this year.
Nearly 1,500 Christchurch households could soon see their recycling bins confiscated as the city cracks down on people who refuse to separate their waste.
Some 180 yellow garbage containers have already been removed and the council has sent final warnings to another 1,450 residents.
To retrieve the containers, they will have to pay $ 97.65 and sign a statement promising to comply with the rules. Your containers will be monitored to make sure they deliver on that promise.
The Christchurch City Council has spent about $ 1.5 million shipping nearly 1,500 trucks loaded with contaminated material from yellow containers to the landfill since May. That equates to about 41 percent of all yellow containers.
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During the first three days of this week, 30 trucks were sent to the landfill and 55 were recycled.
In 2019, only 23 recycling trucks were sent to the landfill. Trucks containing more than 10 percent garbage must be scrapped.
The council’s resource recovery manager, Ross Trotter, said the policy was to give people three opportunities to correct their recycling.
“Our preference is to educate people rather than penalize them, but some people have not responded to our repeated efforts to inform them about which items can be recycled.
JOSEPH JOHNSON / THINGS
The Christchurch EcoCentral recycling depot is dealing with a lot of contamination, which means that recycling cannot be processed and must be disposed of. (Video first posted on June 2, 2020)
“If they do not respond to the information we give them and the controls show that they continue to put general garbage in their yellow garbage container, then we will no longer offer the service.”
Trotter said that in some cases the warning letter had been enough to spark a change in behavior, with 56 households since earning a gold star for their recycling prowess.
The council has reviewed 152,380 containers so far this year; 92,416 were found to have a small level of contamination.
In those cases, the city council provided residents with an information leaflet on what can be recycled.
About 39,396 have received gold stars for their excellent recycling, Trotter said.
Stacy Squires / Stuff
180 yellow containers were seized from Christchurch homes.
“Most Christchurch residents strive to recycle properly and we are truly grateful for your support. Some are doing a fantastic job. “
Only clean cardboard, paper, tin and aluminum cans, glass bottles and rigid plastic bottles, and containers marked 1, 2, or 5 should go to the yellow container on wheels. Those items must be loose.
General garbage can only go to the red container on wheels.
EcoCentral, the city hall company that sorts all yellow bin recycling and operates three transfer stations, regularly finds diapers, dead animals, wash baskets and vacuum cleaners in the recycling, sometimes even guns, chainsaws and seat belts.
The council told residents that recycling had to be sent to landfill during the four-week Covid-19 shutdown, when EcoCentral suspended its recycling operations, and that any trash that couldn’t fit in a red wheeled bin could be put in the yellow.
While it was only supposed to be a temporary measure, people have continued the practice.
