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Home / Hawkes Bay Today

No room at the bin: Hastings already struggling to cope with festive recycling surge

By Louise Gould
Hawkes Bay Today·
21 Dec, 2020 10:09 PM4 mins to read

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The Henderson Rd Refuse Transfer Station is already at capacity days before Christmas. Photo / Supplied

The Henderson Rd Refuse Transfer Station is already at capacity days before Christmas. Photo / Supplied

The photo says it all.

The main recycling depot in Hastings is overflowing with cardboard, just days before one of the busiest recycling weeks of the year - the festive season dump.

The recycling station at Henderson Rd Refuse Transfer Station is officially full, the Hastings District Council said on Monday. At Blackbridge, it's getting close to full too.

For those in the district who need to offload their Christmas recycling, there's limited options.

The council's lease for the Martin Place recycling station in Havelock North expired and wasn't renewed earlier this year.

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Waimarama's is open, but its future is under review because its contents are often sent straight to landfill due to contamination.

Informal green recycling bin arrangements exist at Tutira, Poukawa, Maraekakaho, Waimarama and Waipatiki.

Hastings District Council waste minimisation planner Angela Atkins said they are trying to deal with the surge the recycling transfer stations are receiving in the lead-up to the festive period.

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"There's always an increase in waste with the increase of consumption. We have prepared for that the best that we can," she said.

"But, sometimes, two sites might be full and need servicing but the truck can only service one at a time so we have to prioritise."

Hastings District councillor Simon Nixon, who sits on the region's landfill committee, admitted recycling will be an issue in the district this Christmas.

"I'm sympathetic to both the community and the council because we want people to do the right thing, but we need to provide the means for them to do it," he said.

"For circumstances beyond our immediate control we haven't done that this year."

Nixon said not having a recycling area in Havelock North any more, and other recycling centres already being at capacity, would not be accepted long term.

"There's obviously no short-term solution - we've got to find a new site," he said. "We've got to find somewhere else that people find acceptable and convenient."

Collection of rubbish and recycling will not be taking place in the district on Christmas Day or New Year's Day. The collection will happen on December 26 and January 2 instead.

These changes affect households in Akina, St Leonard's, Brookvale and Whirinaki for rubbish collection and Parkvale, Mayfair and Havelock North for recycling collection.

The Hastings District Council's solid waste operations and contract manager, Danny McClure, said everyone needed to do their bit to keep rubbish volumes manageable.

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"Over this time we ask people to follow the directions of staff if using the transfer stations," he said.

McClure also advised people to not put large volumes of recycling out for kerbside collection at any one point and to not overfill wheelie bins.

"If you are using a rural recycling facility, please call council on 871 5000 if you see the bin is almost full so we can arrange an empty before it starts to overflow," he said.

Earlier this year, the council engaged with new contractors to operate kerbside collection services.

It said this was part of an overarching goal to help the community reduce the amount of waste being produced and going to landfill.

"The new contracts mean the hardworking crews now get to enjoy Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day with their friends and whanau," a spokeswoman said.

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With the increased loads, the spokeswoman said it was likely rubbish and recycling trucks would be running different schedules to normal and people shouldn't be alarmed if they don't come at their regular time.

"The best way to ensure rubbish and recycling is collected is to put it out on the kerb by 7am and leave it out until at least 6pm on collection day," she said.

If there are any delays to an area's collection, updates will be posted on the council Facebook page.

A Napier City Council spokeswoman said although the area hasn't had any kerbside waste or recycling issues to date the council was aware the levels of consumption and associated packaging was a problem at this time of year.

"We ask people to be conscious of the crews who are working hard throughout the festive season and remind them to stockpile recycling where necessary to 'drip feed' their crates over the next few weeks," she said.

"Napier only used to collect recycling fortnightly so, with a weekly collection, it won't be long until the trucks come past again."

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