New micro-chipped recycling bins ready for Horowhenua roll out next month

Horowhenua is taking recycling up a notch with new and much bigger bins.

Horowhenua's recycling changes next month to a new system, with recyclable items like glass separated from paper and plastics in new micro-chipped bins picked up fortnightly.

Horowhenua District Council is rolling out about 14,500 new, 240-litre recycling bins to every house in Horowhenua that receives kerbside recycling services for the new service to start on July 1.

The new bins are for recycling paper, cardboard, hard plastics, tins and cans. As of next month, only glass should be put in the green recycling crate.

HDC environmental engineer Ryan Hughes said glass must be separated from the other recyclable waste because glass is kept in a different part of the new trucks and processed differently.

When it arrives in Palmerston North the waste is hand sorted, which makes the glass a safety hazard, he said.

''The improvements we're making to the service aim to increase the amount of material recycled, reduce the waste sent to landfill and reduce health and safety risk to staff who collect and sort recycled materials.''

Each new bin is equipped with an RFID = Radio-Frequency Identification - which identifies what house the bin belongs to.

This will help stop bins being stolen and will help Horowhenua District Council identify and educate people who disregard the recycling system.

Yvette Falloon, Horowhenua District Council's Environment Infrastructure Graduate said for anyone moving house, the bins would now have to stay at the old house.

''The bin belongs to the house, not the person,'' she said.

HDC communications advisor Trish Hayward says the response from the community so far has been ''mostly positive''.

The changes are in response to feedback from the community meeting on the Waste Minimisation and Management Plan last year.

Trish Hayward said that the community wants to 'make recycling easier for people.

''Ideally we just want to lower contamination rate,'' she said.

There are alternatives for people who may struggle handling the bin if it's too heavy, such as requesting a smaller 80-litre bin, or a second recycling crate.

There are also tow hitches for sale so recycling wheelie bins can be pulled behind a car if a resident had a long driveway.

Some properties on rural roads will not receive the bins as the roads often have high speed limits, and narrow roads are not suitable as trucks need to pull safely off the road while workers collect the rubbish.

A three-level system will track those people who put non-recyclable materials in the bins - essentially three strikes.

The first strike is a sticker issued when a bin contains a minor amount of non-recyclable waste. Information will be provided and the bin will be emptied.

The second strike is a sticker issued when a bin contains large amounts of non-recyclable waste or minor recyclable waste for the second time in six weeks.

When a level two offence is issued the bin will not be emptied, and further recycling information will be issued.

A third sticker will be issued if there is a serious repeat of non-recyclable material in the bin. The kerbside recycling collection is cancelled and the recycling bin removed. The owner will have to contact the Council to have the service resumed.

If the recycling truck is more than 11 per cent contaminated the entire truck can be rejected. If there is a major repeat the Material Reclamation Facility may reject the waste.

The total cost of the whole project is $800,000.

Emily Snell, a Horowhenua College student, was on work experience at the Horowhenua Chronicle last week.