‘Everybody just needs to play their part’

Dead animals, dirty nappies and rotten food are among the items Southland residents put into their yellow recycling bins every month, a councillor says.

In light of Plastic Free July, which has been marked this month, the Southland Express spoke to Invercargill City councillors and infrastructure chairman Ian Pottinger about the waste problem in the city.

He called for residents across the region to play their part as the waste, which contaminates the recycling products around it, was then sent to landfill at additional cost to ratepayers.

Cr Pottinger said only in May, Recycle South — which has the recycling contract for Invercargill City Council and Southland District Council — found 94.84 tonnes of contaminated waste in the recycling bins.

"From that number, 59.75 [tonnes] came from Invercargill region and 35.09 [tonnes] from Southland."

He said council spent an additional $300 per tonne for the diversion for the landfill.

In May, council spent more than $30,000 in additional costs, including GST.

"The recycling team has been finding some unbelievable things in the yellow bins like dead animals and dirty nappies — this is disgusting and I think everyone just needs to play their part.

"I think if people fill up their red bin, they just put it into their yellow bin — but they can’t do that."

As Cr Pottinger spoke to the Express earlier this year, one of the ideas to address contamination issues was to have a blue bin for glass as much of the glass broke during the transportation causing contamination.

Council would consult at the beginning of next year about this as part of its long-term plan.

However, he believed education and for the residents across the region to be mindful were the keys for achieving results.

Cr Pottinger said while it would cost more money for council to hire people, he would support having bin inspectors as it could be a long-term saving for ratepayers.

"The bin inspections are a key thing as education only goes so far.

"It's like parking tickets. You can educate people to put money in the meter. But at the end of the day, the only way you're going to get it home is like a fine.

"In the case of yellow bins, it could be something like that three-strike system, that when you get a couple of warnings, you lose the service."

He said people should really be mindful of their waste as contaminated waste affected the bills and consequently the ratepayers’ pockets.

"You should be able to throw the yellow bin on your lounge floor— it should be that clean — so I urge everyone to be mindful with which items they can put into the [yellow] bins."