WasteNet Southland Director Fiona Walker said from February 10, inspections of yellow bins would be resumed within the Invercargill city and Southland district boundaries in response to high contamination rates.
In the 2023-24 period alone, 944 tonnes of material was directed from yellow bins to landfill — with an equivalent dollar cost to ratepayers of $339,000, she said.
"When a bin is contaminated, there is the risk that the truck’s entire contents are no longer able to be directed to recycling and instead end up in landfill."
She said the measure would not have any additional cost to ratepayers as the bin inspection programme was covered under WasteNet’s existing waste management budgets.
"The reintroduction of yellow-bin inspections will be conducted by WasteCo [the incumbent waste collection service provider for WasteNet], so there are existing efficiencies in WasteCo staff conducting these inspections as they are able to work in with truck activities and collection schedules, and they also have added insights into areas with high contamination rates, which require additional support."
Ms Walker said inspectors would examine recycling bins on regular collection days, working slightly ahead of the collection trucks. Bin inspectors would work to ensure that all areas within the Invercargill city and Southland district boundaries were covered.
"However, areas previously identified as having high levels of contamination may receive a higher number of inspections," she said.
Inspectors would place a tag on the yellow bin when the bin was inspected. A green tag would indicate households were recycling well (bin emptied), an orange tag would indicate there were a few incorrect items found (bin emptied, with educational material also delivered), and a red tag would indicate significant contamination (no collection; contamination would need to be disposed of before the next scheduled collection run).
"On occasion, they may leave additional educational material with households."
She hoped the measure helps to educate the community and change behaviour to help minimise the amount of waste destined for landfill.
