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Recycle Right: Glass trial and household recycling audit begin

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It’s Spring. A new season, and a renewed mission to help our community become more aware of Recycling Right in the Clutha District.

We’re kicking off with two initiatives:

District-wide bin audit begins from mid-September

The Clutha District Council is about to launch into the regular bin audits, when our waste minimisation team takes a wee peek inside recycling bins to see how people are doing with their recycling. We have a 10.5 per cent contamination level in the Clutha District, Council’s Waste Minimisation Officer Meghan Grant says.

“That’s pretty good – it means 89.5 per cent of the contents of recycling bin are just that – recyclables, and people are keeping other items out, such as plastic bags, soft plastics, lids and household waste, green waste, glass etc. Can we do better? Yes, I think we can. We’d love to see more people earning a green sticker and Recycle Right.”

The stickers people can expect to see in this year’s audit look like this:

The bin audits work alongside the normal three strikes system, when our waste contractor finds contaminants in the recycling bin and places stickers on bins accordingly.

“We really encourage people to think about what they put in their recycling bin,” Meghan says. “We’re doing well, but let’s work together to get that contamination level down further.”

Clutha District Council Waste and Greenspace Team Leader Scott Martin at the colour sorted glass recycling area at the Milton Transfer Station. The six-month trial is available at Milton only.

Colour sorted glass recycling trial begins

Another initiative to encourage people to Recycle Right is glass recycling, which has called for some affirmative action in the interim period until this service can be made permanently available in the Clutha District.

Council’s Waste and Greenspace Team Leader Scott Martin (pictured) is pleased to announce the launch of a six-month colour sorted glass recycling trial at the Milton Transfer Station only.

Up until now, people have either put their glass in their red bin or taken it directly to the Mt Cooee Landfill in Balclutha for disposal.

“This will give residents a way to help keep glass out of landfill and to help develop and support better recycling processes for the district,” Scott says.

“We ask users to bring clean, empty glass bottles and jars to the transfer station and place them into separate bins for clear, brown and green glass.”

Lids and caps must be removed, and glass must be rinsed before being dropped off. Strictly no glass outside of bottles and jars; so, screens, mirrors, windows, vases or Pyrex must NOT be deposited in these bins - they disrupt the recycling process at the recycling furnace and are contaminants.

Collected glass will be transported to Dunedin before being sent on for reprocessing with New Zealand’s only glass manufacturer Visy in Auckland.

How glass recycling works and is paid for

  • Our colour separated material is stockpiled with Dunedin City Council’s, then transported to 5 R Solutions Window Glass Recovery factory in Christchurch.
  • Council contributes to transporting the glass as far as Christchurch.
  • Both the tonnage and shipping is paid for through the waste disposal levy from Central Government under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.
  • The service is rates-neutral – no charge through rates.
  • Visy pays for the material to be sent to its furnace in Auckland.
  • Visy recycles 485,000 tonnes of glass containers, jars and bottles and remanufactures them into 3 billion bottles and jars each year, which contain up to 70% recycled glass.
  • Colour sorting is important because the plant requires separated colours to produce specific-coloured products e.g., recycled green bottles and jars are recycled into green glass products etc.

Scott says the trial will collect data that is required by the Ministry of Environment as the council keeps working on a district-wide process to stop glass going into landfills. As mentioned, this is being worked on and likely won’t be available until sometime in 2027.

“Right across the region the Clutha District is home to stunning beaches, special native places and rural landscapes. I’m really passionate about recycling and making sure materials are recovered responsibly and through the best possible channels to keep the natural resources we use to make products, in a circular economy. Council run a lot of education programmes to keep the recycle right message prominent.

“We’re listening to our residents who want options for glass recycling, and it’s important that they know Council is working to progress this.”

As we said earlier, for now, the glass recycle trial will be run only via the Milton Transfer Station.

“We do not want glass going into landfill if there is a better option available, and this trial will help us test what is practical, affordable and supported by the community.”

The success of the trial depends on people using the bins correctly. Dirty glass, mixed colours, lids or other materials can contaminate the load. Please give bottles and jars a quick rinse, remove the lids, and sort glass by colour. If the glass is contaminated, the trial will not succeed.”

Glass Recycling tips:

  • Wash it. Give bottles and jars a quick rinse before dropping them off.
  • Sort it. Use the separate bins for clear, brown and green glass.
  • Remove it. Take lids off before recycling.
  • Keep it clean. Contaminated glass could affect the success of the trial.
  • Support the trial. Your effort will help Council understand demand for glass recycling in Clutha.

For more sorting tips, watch our video on the Council's Facebook page.

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