Tauranga residents will be able to recycle glass bottles and jars from the kerbside again when Tauranga City Council starts a new rates-funded glass collection service in October.
In preparation for the new fortnightly service, collection crates and information brochures are being delivered to every household in Tauranga from next week. The brochure provides information on how to use the service, and has a collection week calendar so residents will know which fortnight to put their crates out. Collections will take place on the same day of the week as current rubbish collections, unless otherwise advised by Council.
The Council-managed glass collection service was included in the 2018-28 Long Term Plan (LTP) in response to private collection companies ceasing to accept glass at the kerbside in March this year. Public consultation on the proposed rates-funded glass service showed strong community support, with almost 70 percent of respondents in favour of introducing the service.
Sustainability and Waste Manager, Rebecca Maiden, said filling this gap in residential kerbside recycling is important as glass is an infinitely recyclable resource that should be kept out of landfill.
“This service will make it convenient and easy for residents to recycle their glass again, and is another step forward in Tauranga’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan to reduce our city’s waste to landfill,” Ms Maiden said.
“We know that some people are already doing the right thing by taking their glass to the transfer station for recycling, but many people are putting their glass bottles and jars in the rubbish bin due to lack of time or ability to do this.
“Research from other cities in New Zealand, and around the world, shows that providing collection services at the kerbside for every household greatly improves residential recycling rates.”
The LTP consultations also showed the community was in favour of Council providing a full, rates-funded kerbside collection service comprising mixed recycling, organic waste and rubbish. However, due to the time it takes to set up and implement a city-wide service, this won’t be introduced until 2021.
“In the meantime, the potential amount of residential glass going to landfill could be as much as 6000 tonnes per year, which is why we’ve introduced this interim glass collection service as soon as we could,” Ms Maiden said.
Tauranga is one of the last cities in New Zealand to move from privately-led to Council-led kerbside collections.
For more information about the new glass collection service, visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/glass or phone 07 577 7000.