Smooth run for charities recycling goods

Observing the ebb and flow of donated items in and around Dunedin’s community clothing bins in recent months prompted The Star reporters Jessica Wilson and Brenda Harwood to ask local charities about any issues with dumping at their premises. But despite past problems of dumping, most were happy with the behaviour and generosity of local people.

Illegal dumping of clothing and other items outside clothing bins or second-hand shops appears to have declined.

When contacted by The Star, many second-hand shops reported they were being given good quality items and very few had goods, or rubbish, dumped on their doorsteps.

Otago Community Hospice retail development manager Cat Callanan said the organisation’s donations system was "going great" and that there were few problems with it.

"At our Vogel St store in Dunedin, our staff are on hand to talk to people when they drop off donations, and to educate them.

"We try to educate our donors to give us only goods that are suitable for resale," Ms Callanan said.

"People are amazingly generous.

"And, fortunately, we don’t tend to have people dumping material out of hours these days," she said.

Shop on Carroll retail manager Fiona Dodds said while there were items left outside the shop, most of them were good quality.

It was best for all goods to be dropped off at the shop during opening hours, so they could be received securely.

"We value any donations, however we don’t have room for furniture or bedding."

In a written response, The Salvation Army said it appreciated the generous donations received by its Family Stores throughout New Zealand, and which helped to fund its work.

However, donations were only accepted during the opening hours of Family Stores, when staff and volunteers could deal with them.

Unfortunately, some items were left outside stores outside opening hours, and could pile up during public holidays.

"We also have to dispose of a lot of unsaleable donations due to them being broken, damaged, stained, unhygienic or not meeting required safety standards," the statement said.

Staff often had to deal with goods strewn across the front of stores after the weekend, and were sad to see donations ruined by the weather.

Rubbish was sometimes dumped outside stores, creating a health risk to staff.

Many councils in New Zealand were choosing to prosecute people who left goods outside charity stores, and the Salvation Army was willing to provide CCTV footage where it was available.

Dunedin City Council Waste and Environmental Solutions group manager Chris Henderson said charity shops, and most clothing bins, were on private land so generally owners/operators were responsible for cleaning up rubbish around these.

A few clothing bins were on road reserve and council contractors cleaned up around those as needed.

Isolated cases of illegal dumping were not a particular problem at the moment.

A Star reporter visited four clothing bin sites on Monday afternoon in Pine Hill, Green Island, Mosgiel and the Gardens. All were tidy and rubbish-free.