​Standardising what can go in kerbside bins

With the Central Otago District Council (CODC) now midway through the first year of a major change in how kerbside waste is collected, the Waste Team is looking at ways our community can maximise this service to reduce waste sent to landfills.

The alterations to Central Otago’s kerbside collection, initiated last July with the introduction of the food scraps and greenwaste (organics) collection, have placed our district ahead of the national curve in waste minimisation. Not every district in New Zealand offers the service we have.

However, our six-month report card would read, ‘Overall good effort, could do better,’ according to CODC Infrastructure Manager Quinton Penniall.

“Generally, our team’s bin audits have shown a shift in people’s waste behaviour as they adapt to the new four-bin configuration. The community’s response to the green bin shows a commendable understanding of what should and shouldn’t go into the bins.”

Yet, this isn't the case with the yellow bins.

“Our team and the truck drivers have noticed a genuine effort in recycling correctly, but many are still placing non-recyclable items in these bins. The most frequent non-recyclable item is ‘soft plastic,’ found in 65% of the audited bins containing incorrect items.”

The term ‘soft plastic’ encompasses various "scrunchable" plastic packaging, ranging from chip packets and bread bags to dog food sacks and films on meat trays. These can only be recycled through designated Soft Plastic Recycling drop-off bins, located at New World, Countdown, and The Warehouse in Alexandra. It’s crucial to remember that not everything recyclable can go into the yellow bins.

“Christmas and the summer period pose additional challenges due to increased waste. We’ve also seen a rise in non-recyclable household items in yellow bins, like broken garden furniture and gas canisters. These items disrupt recycling processes and should either go in the red bin or be taken to transfer stations,” Mr Penniall said.

In an effort to standardise recycling nationwide, the Government has set national standards for materials collected in kerbside recycling, effective from 1 February 2024. These standards won’t bring significant changes to the Central Otago kerbside service.

The yellow bin will continue to accept:

• Clean flat paper and cardboard, including pizza boxes free of food residue
• Clean, empty steel food tins
• Clean, empty aluminium drink cans
• Clean, empty grocery and household plastic bottles and containers of any colour with a number 1, 2, or 5 – without lids.

The blue bin will continue to accept:

• Clean, empty glass bottles and jars – without lids.

The green bin will see a minor change, accepting only:

• All types of food scraps, including meat, fish, small bones, fruit and vegetable peelings, cores, skins, and leftover cooked food.
• Greenwaste from the garden, excluding flax, cabbage tree, or toitoi leaves.
• Newspaper solely for lining bins and wrapping food scraps.

“For our district, adjusting to meet national kerbside standards, which aim to enhance household recycling and food scrap collections, will be relatively straightforward,” Mr. Penniall said.

The most noticeable change from 1 February is that animal droppings, fur, and hair will no longer be accepted in the green bin. The red bin is not affected by the tweaks.