About 360 tonnes of recycling has been diverted to landfill over the last eight weeks in Marlborough, saving the council money.
Kerbside rubbish and general waste from Blenheim is tipped into the back of a collection truck. Photo: Scott Hammond / Stuff
Recycling picked up from kerbside collection in Blenheim and Picton has not been sorted since alert level 4 to protect staff from the threat of coronavirus, meaning waste that would normally be recycled has been thrown away instead.
It has cost the Marlborough District Council about $72,000 to collect and landfill kerbside recyclables since 25 March - cheaper than the $144,000 it would have cost to recycle it.
The council's solid waste manager, Alec McNeil, said another $8000 worth of "non-recyclable" plastic - including coloured bottles and mixed plastics - were also sent to landfill over lockdown.
The plastics were previously recyclable, but a downturn in market demand meant landfill was the only remaining option.
Staff had stockpiled the plastics in the hopes of a market change, but decided during lockdown to "clear the decks" of about 40 tonnes worth of plastic and "start again", he said.
It cost about $200 a tonne to landfill waste, he said.
"The [Bluegums] landfill has not been materially impacted by this additional tonnage as it is offset against other materials that have reduced, for example general waste," McNeil said.
About 555 tonnes of general waste was thrown away in April, a third less than the 925 tonnes chucked in April last year.
McNeil said overall, Marlborough had not lost much recycling.
Rural recycling bins, transfer stations, and Blenheim's resource recovery centre had continued to sort recycling during the lockdown, resulting in 216 tonnes being recycled in April.
About 360 tonnes of kerbside recycling in Marlborough was landfilled during lockdown. Photo: Scott Hammond / Stuff
This was a drop from 401 tonnes in April 2019.
McNeil said recycling could still be processed at the facilities as staff could social distance and did not need to handle waste.
But truckloads of kerbside recycling would continue to be landfilled under alert level 2, as staff did not meet the government's social distancing requirements while sorting.
Kerbside recycling would be reviewed when the nation moved down to alert level 1.
But despite residents being told early on that kerbside recycling would be landfilled, McNeil was not worried about residents throwing away recyclables once it switched back.
"People ... are invested in the recycling process," he said.
Earlier this year the council considered delaying its kerbside recycling roll-out to Renwick by a year to keep this year's rates increase as low as possible to help with economic recovery.
But the proposal still went out for public feedback in this year's annual plan, which closed last month, and saw 33 submissions in support of the kerbside expansion and 11 against.
What's open under alert level 2 in Marlborough District Council region
- Kerbside recycling - landfilled
- Transfer stations - open
- Resource recovery centre - open
- Blenheim's reuse centre - open
- Rural recycling containers - open
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