Grant boosts Whangarei glass recycling

The Uretiti Transfer Station glass storage bunkers (pictured before the upgrade) needed to be upgraded after the Whangarei District Council moved to separate glass recycling crates.

Moving to the best practice method of separate glass recycling crates in Whangarei has seen volume begin to exceed storage capacity, but the Glass Packaging Forum has stepped in to help.

The GPF recently awarded the Whangarei District Council a grant of $4,500 to help with the expansion of Uretiti Transfer Station storage bunkers for glass bottles and jars destined for recycling in Auckland.

Council Solid Waste Engineer David Lindsay says the rollout of a separate glass crate collection system has resulted in increased tonnages but has put strain on the storage bunkers. “The glass storage bunkers are no longer large enough to cope with the amount of glass collected, and this has resulted in some contamination,” he says.

An upgrade of the storage, which is under way, will prevent any future contamination.

Glass Packaging Forum Scheme Manager Dominic Salmon says it’s great to see more councils move to a separate crate system for glass. “We were concerned to hear the council had had issues with some contamination. Luckily this is an easy fix with an upgrade to the storage bunkers, and the GPF is happy to help.”

Improving the ability of councils, recyclers and community groups to collect, store and transport glass to Auckland to be recycled is the primary aim of the GPF’s voluntary product stewardship scheme, Dominic says.