Tauranga’s first ever, council-led kerbside glass collection service got underway on 1 October 2018.
The service provided to every residential property in Tauranga, is expected to prevent around 6000 tonnes of glass per year being sent to landfill.
The service is strictly for glass bottles and jars – rinsed and without lids. If other materials are put in the crate it won’t be emptied as the contents will not be accepted at the glass recycling plant.
Another common reason for non-collection of glass is if the crate is overfilled. If the crate is filled past the top edge, glass can easily fall out when lifted and shatter, and the crate may also become too heavy for the collector to lift.
Both of these are health and safety issues. The collector will also not empty the crate if there is broken glass in it. This is because collectors need to manually handle the glass in order to separate it into different colours as they put it into the truck.
If there is broken glass in the crate, the collectors can easily cut themselves. Residents are asked to wrap any broken glass in newspaper and put it in their rubbish bin or bag instead. Full details about what can and cannot be put in the crate is in the brochure that was delivered with Recycling right with kerbside glass collections.
An example of an overfilled glass crate.the collection crates (taped to the bottom) or on the council website at www.tauranga.govt.nz/glass.
Tauranga City Council has written for this magazine to let people know how to make the most out of their kerbside glass recycling service.
