$42,000 grant to improve Whangārei's glass recycling efforts

Whangārei's Re:Sort Centre has received a $42,000 grant to improve glass recycling.

Glass recycling efforts in Whangārei have been given a boost with a $42,000 grant to the district's Re:Sort Centre, after a change in council policy saw an increase in glass collected.

The grant, from the Glass Packaging Forum, will improve glass recycling through the upgrade of storage bunkers at the Re:Sort Centre in Kioreroa Rd, run by Northland Recycling, which is a division of Northland Waste.

"The Whangārei District Council's change to collect glass separately to other recyclables at kerbside has meant a 20 per cent increase in recycled glass coming to Re:Sort," Northland Waste manager Andrew Sclater said.

"Around 800 tonnes more glass was recycled in 2020 compared to 2019, so we have had to upgrade our storage bunkers. This will mean there is less risk of the glass becoming contaminated, health and safety on site is improved, and we are able to deal with seasonal demands."

Glass Packaging Forum Scheme manager Dominic Salmon said the WDC move to the new collection method in 2019 is best practice, as is evident by the immediate increase in glass.

"We advocate for all councils to adopt this method – the results speak for themselves. The GPF exists to improve glass recycling so we are more than happy to help Northland Recycling improve their facility," Salmon said.

The GPF's grants are funded by voluntary levies paid by its members, with over $3.7 million in grants funded to date to projects which improve glass recovery and recycling in New Zealand.

This latest funding builds on over $30,000 already invested by the GPF in the district over the past five years, with grants for projects at Tutukaka Marina, Uretiti Transfer Station Recycling Centre and Whangārei Heads Community Resource Recovery Charitable Trust.