A Queenstown businessman said he offered to take over the town's glass recycling two years ago but was turned down.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council is being hammered from all sides over its glass "recycling'' fiasco, after it was revealed last week all glass collected in the resort is being sent to landfill.
That has prompted withering responses within the community.
Earthmoving company Just Dig It owner John Walsh said he offered to take over the contract two years ago.
The crushing machine he planned to use cleans the glass of contaminates.
It produces "cullett'' - crushed glass for re-melt in furnace - to be exported, sand for the domestic market and refined sand for both.
"It's a different process but they didn't go for it,'' he says. ‘‘But there's still a chance we could do this now.''
Recycling Community Network boss Marty Hoffart said even the original relationship between council and Fulton Hogan had no environmental benefit.
"It's ridiculous - the council's paying to have the glass taken away and crushed and then buying it back in roading material.
"The only reason it's going into roading is it looks like something positive is being done with it.''
Mr Hoffart said bottles should be recycled into bottles.
It was a national problem, he said, and he wanted legislation to introduce a container deposit scheme, which an Envision report said would increase recycling by 45,000 tonnes, create 2000 jobs and save about $40million.
Fishbone Bar & Grill co-owner Darren Lovell asked whether the council was going to refund businesses the charges they paid for recycling.
Fulton Hogan has confirmed it is reusing to accept more glass for the council stockpile at Parkburn Quarry, near Cromwell, because of high contamination.
The council was paying Fulton Hogan both to transport the glass and to crush it - about $40 a tonne. Council chief executive Mike Theelen said a report on the issue was due soon.
He confirmed 95% of plastic and paper was recycled.
Fulton Hogan regional manager Paul Bisset said it was "very keen'' to work with the council and community on a solution.
