‘‘They just came rolling past on the conveyor belt,'' Wanaka Wastebusters operations manager Scott Opetaia said of the pair of large trout that found their way to the centre from an anonymous recycler's crate.
‘‘It was pretty outrageous.''
In Mr Opetaia's two years on the job, he had seen many strange things come down the line from people's recycling bins, but the trout were by far the strangest.
Previous oddities included toilet seats, potties, a sealed meat pack, unopened bottles of drink, deodorant, toothpaste, an intact packet of tequila jellies and historic-looking glass bottles and biscuit tins.
‘‘All sorts of bits and pieces come through.''
The fish though, created quite a stir, well and truly breaking the monotony of the conveyor belt's usual offerings.
‘‘We all had a bit of a laugh and everyone from the office gathered around for a look.
‘‘It was a bit of a waste really because they were actually quite good trout, quite edible and quite a good size.''
Unfortunately, by the time the fish made their grand entrance they were ‘‘a bit past their use-by date'', so were ‘‘given a burial''.
Mr Opetaia had no idea who had attempted to recycle the trout, as kerbside crates were generally picked up and emptied straight into the back of a truck, so banned contents were often missed.
While some less conventional items were okay for processing, workers had to be vigilant about what they accepted, as the wrong grade of plastic could create havoc.
‘‘We have to be very careful because if we're not selective when those sort of things come through it can contaminate the pure product.''
Mr Opetaia confirmed fish were not accepted in the recycling crates, nor were polystyrene, shrink wrap or appliances - although these items could be dropped off at the recycling centre.
Tetra-pak (soy milk, longlife milk, juice containers), meat trays, plastic bags, empty engine oil containers, bubble wrap, car parts and food contaminated shrink wrap could not be recycled at all.
- Can you cast any light on this fishy tale? Drop a line to lucy.ibbotson@thenews.co.nz or phone (03) 443-1307.
