Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre closed to allow clean-up after fire

Whanganui fire crews were called to a small fire in the OJI Fibre Solutions recycling warehouse shed on Thursday. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown

Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre will be closed for the day on Friday after a small fire in a nearby warehouse.

Whanganui District Council chief infrastructure officer Lance Kennedy said early indications suggested the damage was not widespread but investigations were ongoing.

Fire and Emergency NZ crews managed to contain a small fire in the rear, left-hand side of the recycling warehouse on Thursday.

Fire and Emergency Whanganui senior station officer Shane Dudley said the cause of the fire was likely a battery or something hot brought in from a load of recycling.

“We just want to take this time to remind people to make sure that there is nothing hot in their recycling or rubbish, or any lithium iron batteries,” Dudley said.

The same OJI Fibre Solutions shed had a similar fire in December 2023. After that fire, thought to have been caused by an incorrectly disposed of battery, the recycling centre was unable to accept plastics until the New Year.

To allow for clean-up, the centre on Maria Place will be closed on Friday.

“We ask that people don’t dump any recyclables outside the centre during this time,” Kennedy said.

The centre will reopen at 9am on Saturday.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.