Central residents deserve a pat on the back for getting recycling sorted, Central Otago District Council’s (CODC) waste minimisation team said in a statement.

Central’s recycling collected kerbside in yellow bins is now processed in Timaru, at the new materials recovery facility which opened in August.

CODC infrastructure manager Quinton Penniall said the district had faced challenges over recent years but it was timely during national Recycling Week (October 17-23) to celebrate Central’s commitment to recycling.

“The last few years have been tough, between Covid lockdowns where we were unable to collect recycling, struggling for access with local recycling facilities, contaminated recycling we’ve had to send to landfill, and even the Cromwell recycling storage shed catching fire in February… but things are back on track.

 “We’ve got good quality recycling being accepted and processed in a brand new facility with heaps of capacity.”

Quinton said CODC continues to collaborate with fellow Otago councils to work towards a regional approach to recycling, so shared resources will lead to greater efficiencies.

Recycling collected at Central’s rural drop-off containers continues to be processed at Alexandra Wastebusters.

Mayor Tim Cadogan said there were two ways of looking at being a good recycler.

“For some, it’s about doing the right thing for the environment and the community. I appreciate though for some, that’s not their priority but those folk need to realise that good recycling hygiene in the community saves ratepayers money in years to come. So really, everybody wins when we do the right thing.”

Watch a video about where your recycling goes here. 

For recycling  information see the CODC website.