Recycling creates local jobs and keeps Northland green | Northland News | Local News in Northland

by Andr? Hueber

Sorting rubbish at the garden gate is paying off for a Northland recycling company.

Clean Stream Northland, the joint venture between CBEC and Te Runanga O Te Rarawa, say they are surviving the drop in international commodity prices because of their emphasis on "quality collection methods".

Reports claim overseas buyers of New Zealand's used plastic and aluminium are finding it tough to sell their product and are asking for government help to ensure recycling is viable.

Cleanstream Northland manager Simon Millichamp said although economic conditions were hard he was able to sell his local recycled product due to its high quality.

"Large companies and cities that have taken up mixed wheelie bin collections where all recyclables are thrown into a collection truck and then sorted later have ended up with a contaminated product that was hard to sell."

In Northland the wheelie bin systems had not been adopted and staff had to hand-sort on the trucks as the rubbish was collected, he said.

"This is more labour intensive but results in a product which can be sold rather than dumped."

Warwick Taylor, manager of recycling company Waste Works which services Whangarei and the Bay of Islands agreed that Northland had a more efficient recycling system than Auckland but said it could be improved if rural residents had the option of buying plastic recycling bags from the supermarket as well as using bins to recycle.

"We're doing a trial in Kerikeri at the moment using plastic bags instead of bins. It's going really well and could be a model for the rest of rural Northland. At the moment people living down long driveways leave their bin out at night and hope it doesn't get stolen. Plastic bottles get blown around and then people have to come back to pick the bin up."

He said bags would allow residents who had parties with lots of bottles to get rid of them all in one go and tourists could get in on the act too.

But not everyone was thrilled with the idea, Mr Taylor said.

"Some people don't think the bag is an environmentally friendly option because of the extra plastic that would be generated, but neither bins nor bags are environmentally perfect. The answer lies in combining them both to get the right balance."

Mr Millichamp said the plastic bag system could work well for holiday makers who own a bach and only spend a small amount of time in the region each year. He said all waste cost money whether it was recycled or not.

"Rather than wasting money on transport costs and new landfills, many of which are owned by overseas companies, we should be spending money on recycling which provides local jobs and looks after the environment."