Recycling station at Awapuni an improvement on open cages

The upgraded Awapuni recycling station.

Illegal dumping and the flyaway escape of recycling items will no longer be problems at Palmerston North's Awapuni Resource Recovery Centre.

Previously, the site had open cages for residents to drop off recycling that did not fit into their kerbside bins.

Now there is a large, fully enclosed shed with insert slots for residents to put their household recycling in.

Council waste manager Mike Monaghan says the open cages were problematic.

"Open cages meant strong winds blew the recycling out.

"The cardboard and paper also would absorb the rain – which can make recycling difficult.

"People were also illegally dumping rubbish and other household items into the cages, which should be going to landfill."

He says the new shed has 11 slots for paper, cardboard, plastics, metals and glass.

The cages are fully enclosed and people will have to insert their products into a slot, like that on a post box.

The new cages also ensure the items don't get wet, don't blow away and will deter people from leaving rubbish.

"We love that Palmy residents are so keen to recycle, but we want to make sure it is done well.

"This location is close to the Manawatū River and we don't want any recycling ending up in or near the water."