Tauranga says goodbye to tonnes of glass in landfills after new scheme

Tauranga City Council says 6,622 tonnes of glass has been diverted from landfill in the year since it introduced its rates-funded kerbside glass recycling service.

About half of the glass was collected from kerbsides and half from transfer stations.

The council estimated that 1440 tonnes a year was collected previously and only 40 to 60 per cent ended up being recycled due to broken glass contaminating recycling bins.

This comes as the first anniversary of Tauranga City Council's glass recycling service is celebrated.

A total of 3,313 tonnes of household glass was collected from the kerbside – more than double the amount collected under previous kerbside glass recycling collections run by the private sector.

An additional 3,309 tonnes was collected at the transfer stations. An estimated 54 per cent more residents are now taking part in recycling glass in Tauranga since the introduction of the service.

Diana, a resident from The Lakes, said, "I'm happy with [the kerbside glass collection service] because I don't drive, so I've got no way of taking my glass to the transfer station to be recycled."

Another resident who said he was pleased with the service was Tom Stewart from Greerton.

"It's common sense really to take care of your waste and the council is helping by offering recycling options."

Under the new service, 100 per cent of the glass collected gets recycled, acting manager of sustainability and waste Malcolm Gibb said.

The higher recycling rate is due to the collection process, where the glass is hand sorted into different colours at the kerbside.

"We're very pleased with the result and the community's response to our glass collection service," Gibb said.

"The bottom line is if we hadn't stepped in and provided the kerbside service to the community when private waste collectors decided to stop collecting glass for recycling, a large proportion of this glass would have ended up in landfill unnecessarily."

Mayor Tenby Powell said he was delighted to hear how the community had supported the glass recycling service.

"Better environmental management is critical to our city and wider region, and this is a great example of Tauranga working together."