Our response to Mountain Scene/ODT story on recycling

Last week’s Mountain Scene cover story ‘Our waste woes’ (also printed in the ODT on Thursday 27 April) contained a number of inaccuracies and misleading information about the Council’s Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) on Glenda Drive.

It relied heavily on conjecture from one unnamed source that wasn’t backed up with any evidence or data, as opposed to our responses to Mountain Scene’s questions over several weeks which were.

After we requested a correction/clarification, Allied Press offered us a right to reply for which we are grateful. These appeared in both publications (print and online) today but had to be edited from our original version which we’re sharing with you now.

In many ways the damage has already been done. My colleagues in the QLDC waste management team and I are concerned the story will have an unfounded, detrimental effect on the community’s trust in the Council’s recycling service, specifically kerbside recycling which relies on residents putting the right waste in the right bin.

This risks undoing the great progress achieved over the last few years in what’s been an awesome partnership between QLDC, local organisations like Wastebusters and Waste Management NZ, and you in the community.

Please let’s continue to work together so this doesn’t happen.

Now onto some specific points starting with the cover photo that ironically shows a large amount of recycling baled up and ready to be sent off for reprocessing, not landfill.

The opening paragraph quotes “almost three-quarters of our recycling’s ending up at the dump” – wrong from the start! From July 2022 to March 2023 the MRF received 6,173 tonnes of product for diversion of which 862 tonnes (less than 14%) has been sent to landfill as contamination. This figure is mentioned towards the end of the story but the huge difference between “almost three-quarters” and 14% should have been apparent enough to be clearly stated at the outset.

What’s more, if this claim was true it would represent a colossal amount. 6,173 tonnes over nine months means the MRF received an average of 686 tonnes for diversion per month. If 70% had indeed been sent to landfill this would equate to 480 tonnes per month which simply could not and would not occur.

We have been very open in the past when we’ve been unable to meet the standards that we and you expect, for example issuing media statements in November 2022 and January 2023 that you can find on the news section of our website.

In January we shared our disappointment that staff shortages, market challenges and the summer peak led to 4.8 tonnes of unprocessed recycling sent to landfill on one day. Even if, hypothetically, the same amount was sent to landfill every day in January (which of course it wasn’t) that would still equate to 149 tonnes, i.e. nothing like the 480 tonnes the unsubstantiated claim would indicate.

The story also claimed that “the volume of recycling taken in… is far greater than it’s designed to take — three to four times the amount”. This again is untrue and contradicts information we sent to Mountain Scene which confirmed the MRF currently operates close to capacity. Before it reaches this point, product can usually either be stored or transported to another district for processing. Unfortunately this was not possible in January but we work closely with our contractor managing the MRF to avoid similar situations in the future.

Whilst we did answer a number of Mountain Scene’s questions we were never asked to respond to several of the specific claims made in the story, and hence couldn’t address them before publication. All this built an erroneous picture of this complex, large-scale process that sadly leaves the public with a completely wrong impression.

We invited the Mountain Scene journalist on a tour of the MRF more than a week before the story appeared. This would have allowed them to see the process from start to finish, along with the associated challenges faced by the amazing team working there in often pretty yukky conditions (please don’t put nappies in with your recycling!). The invitation was not taken up but still stands.

Planning for a new facility is underway but before it can be built your continued support in putting the right waste in the right bins really does make a positive difference.

Please keep up your awesome efforts!

If you’re unsure about what to recycle check out this page on our website or call our recycling hotline:

• 03 441 0499 (Queenstown)

• 03 443 0024 (Wānaka).