STDC has partnered with local supermarkets for the campaign.
STDC has partnered with local supermarkets for the campaign.
The South Taranaki District Council (STDC) is tackling dirty or contaminated recycling head-on by partnering up with local supermarkets Countdown and Pak'nSave.
STDC environment and sustainability officer Victoria Moyle says recent audits from the kerbside collection service and the Materials Resource Facility showed a large amount of contamination coming fromplastic milk containers and meat packs, which is why the Council decided to focus on those two areas.
Victoria says with milk and meat being high up on the average household grocery list,the council is trying to remind consumers while they are in the supermarkets what they need to do to ensure that we can recycle the packaging for those products.
"People, on the whole, want to do the right thing and this campaign is just another way we can remind everyone that recycling needs to be clean before it can be processed.
"We've tried to make the guidelines easy to follow and consistent with the message - lids off, wash, don't squash. While the recycling facility has employees to hand sort the recycling, there is no capacity for stopping to remove lids and wash the items."
She says at the end of the day, if you're not sure if something can be recycled or not it's best to leave it out so that it doesn't get mixed in and contaminate the rest of the recycling.
The Council's supermarket recycling campaign started late February and will run between the two supermarkets over the next few weeks.
