Recycling not collected

Council's Services Manager Andrew Pascoe explains that the key reasons for the change is health and safety and time constraints.

"When crates are too full and material drops out as it is lifted into the truck, our Contractor spends too much time collecting and cleaning up spilled material," said Mr Pascoe. "When crates are too heavy it is unsafe to lift and has the potential to cause back and other injuries."

"We ask our community to remember that our contractors pick up well over 1,000 crates a day," he continued.

We believe overfilled crates and the resulting spilled material that needs picking up is the reason that the recycling days have been running later than normal. It is a good idea too, to put lighter items at the bottom on a windy day so that they do not blow around, again for the contractor to pick up.

"Council appreciates the numbers of residents who do the right thing for the environment and the life of our own landfill by recycling, but we do need to be mindful that kerbside recycling is the first step in a chain and needs to be done well," said Mr Pascoe.

If residents are finding they consistently have more recycling than will fit in the two crates, additional crates can be purchased from the Council offices for just $10 each.

Alternatively extra recycling can be dropped at our recycling depots in Tīrau Street, at the Putāruru Transfer Station, at the Tokoroa Landfill on Newell Road or at the Croad Place Recycling Centre.

Ends: words: 335