RAKAIA—Mid Canterbury

SALMON CAPITAL OF NEW ZEALAND

On 1^st December 2000, the Rakaia residents started to change our household refuse disposal system to a recycling system previously unseen in New Zealand. The system approaches recycling using separation between Wet and Dry items and, since adopting it, the town has supported it enthusiastically, with most households using the Wet/Dry recycling system every week. We are the only community in New Zealand to accept household/garden biodegradable waste on a weekly basis, as well as dry waste.
If you are new to our community or haven’t yet tried the Wet/Dry system, please use this web page as your guide to being part of our unique, very efficient recycling system. The system is making a huge difference to the volume of waste that has to be landfilled.

The system is as follows:

Black official prepaid bag — refuse
Blue official prepaid bag — dry items
Green official prepaid bag — wet items

The blue and green official bags may be purchased at the local Rakaia shops, the Rakaia Resource Recovery Park and the District Council office in Ashburton.
The black official Council bags may be purchased from most shops and dairies in the district as well as the District Council office.

KERBSIDE COLLECTION GUIDELINES

 

Collection day for rubbish and recyclables is a Friday. We ask that bags be at the kerbside by 7.30 am.
Please use the system. It caters for all household waste and by doing so you will be doing your bit for our environment. The contents of the blue ‘dry’ bags are kept from the landfill, sorted and generate income for the recycling park.
The green ‘wet’ bag is just as important. These items form the biggest proportion of the waste stream to landfill and are the most toxic, causing the leachates that pollute landfills and groundwater supplies. The contents of all the green ‘wet’ bags are shredded and mixed together and then processed in our worm farm/compost heap above the ground by Mother Nature with a little help from us.

 

Please follow our guidelines and help us to keep our unique and waste efficient town that is the envy of New Zealand.

 

GUIDELINES FOR BLUE ‘DRY’ BAG

 

All non-hazardous items that do not fall into the green bag category may be placed in this bag.

 

Metal items        any type of tin, container or object eg spaghetti tin etc, rinsed clean with lids inside & slightly crushed

 

Plastic items       any type. Rinsed clean, tops off please

 

Paper items        all clean, dry paper. Large amounts may be tied up & left at kerbside

 

Cardboard          any type. Do NOT flatten egg & milk cartons. Large amounts may be tied up & placed at kerbside

 

Glass/china        any type. (Broken or sharp items and lightbulbs in black bag )

 

Clothing             any type including boots, shoes, hats, jackets etc

 

Wood                  any type, old toys, broken furniture parts, cane baskets, etc

 

Batteries            dry type only please. (Liquid batteries in black bag)

 

How to prepare this bag

 

If you use plastic bin liners in your bin under your sink etc, please DO NOT tie the top of these bin liners when you put them in your blue ‘dry’ bag. If possible please use paper type liner

Please place blue ‘dry’ bag with top well tied at the edge of the road outside your gate.

The blue bag is transparent. If there are unsuitable items in your bag it will be left at kerbside with an explanatory sticker attached.

 

Things we DO NOT want in this bag

 

Any green waste (wet bag) type product

Any hazardous item

Any large heavy items eg concrete blocks, bricks, stones, wooden blocks etc

 

GUIDELINES FOR GREEN ‘WET’ BAG

 

Anything that rots, decomposes or is basically biodegradable may be put in this bag.

 

Household waste

Vegetable peelings, food scraps, leftovers, meat scraps cooked or uncooked, all wrapped in newspaper if possible

Wet paper of any sort eg wet newspaper, used & clean tissues, wet ones cotton buds/wool, handy towels etc

Bones, egg shells, shells of any sort, light wooden items eg matches, skewers etc

Pet droppings in bag/cardboard box, pet hair/fur, leftover petfood

Clothes dryer lint, vacuum cleaner bags and contents

Cigarette butts, ashes, fireplace ashes, floor sweepings etc

 

Garden waste

Lawn clippings, hedge trimmings, weeds, vegetables, fruit, flowers, pruning, leaves, dirt, old pot plants etc

 

How to prepare this bag

1. If you use plastic liners in your bin under your sink please DO NOT tie the top of these bin liners when you put them in your green, ‘wet’ bag. If possible please use paper type bin liner

2. Please place green ‘wet’ bag with top well tied at the road verge outside your gate.

The green bag is transparent. If there are unsuitable items in your bag it will be left at kerbside with an explanatory sticker attached.

 

Things we DO NOT want in the green wet bag

Metal items of any sort

Plastic items other than bin liners

Solid/heavy wooden items eg blocks of wood or offcuts etc

Stones of any sort, big or small

Chemicals of any sort

Hazardous/toxic items

Glass items

 

 

GUIDELINES FOR BLACK BAG (REFUSE)

This bag is landfilled unopened.  Any items unsuitable for placement in either the green or blue recycling bags should be placed in the Council’s official prepaid black bag.

 

Refuse items include:

· Disposable nappies

· Sharp items wrapped in paper/containers eg broken glass, knives

· Blood contaminated items eg sanitary pads, dressings, meat pack blood pads

· Dog roll plastic wrapping or food contaminated plastic

· Light bulbs

Personally sensitive items eg medical containers/equipment/condoms etc

 

Summary

If you use the two bag ‘Wet/Dry’ system the need to use the Council’s official black bag system will be limited. The black bag goes straight to landfill and all chance of extracting recoverable, recyclable products is lost. The environment suffers accordingly. If you do not wish to or cannot use the black bag or Wet/Dry system you are welcome to take your refuse straight to the Resource Recovery Park on Normanby Street.

 

The hours of opening are:

Monday             10.00 am — 12.00 noon

Wednesday         3.30 pm — 5.30 pm

Friday                  2.00 pm — 3.00 pm

Saturday             9.00 am — 4.00 pm

Using the ‘Wet/Dry’ system WE (the members of the recycling park sorting team) choose what is recoverable or recyclable and you don’t have to become an expert on the subject. In doing so we keep an enormous amount of waste from landfill and create an income for the town recycling park that allows us to purchase and maintain plant and equipment, ensuring that waste diversion from the landfill continues. All you are required to do is divide your waste into two product lines, Wet and Dry. We will do the rest. Thank you for taking the time to learn about our system. Please give it a try.

 

If you have any enquiries please phone:

Ashburton District Council           307 7700

Neil Pluck                                     302 7031

 

When your household makes the effort to separate on the basis of Wet and Dry it does make a difference to the amount of waste being transported to the regional landfill.

Rakaia Resource Recovery Park