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Dear Sir/Madam

 

Attached is an acknowledgement of your recent Official Information
Request. 

Kind regards

 

Corporate Information 

Hutt City Council

Dear Stephen

 

Thank you for your email.

 

I assume your request has arisen in relation to this article, which
appeared on Stuff last week:
[1]https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/1091....

 

With regard to your request for names of all thirds parties (contractors,
businesses, etc) with whom Hutt City Council have agreements or contracts
with to collect, process or export recycling materials, Hutt City Council
has a contract with Waste Management NZ (WMNZ) to provide kerbside
collection services for recyclables in the Lower Hutt area. WMNZ also
service five recycling stations at locations in Lower Hutt.

 

WMNZ collects the material, and relevant materials take different pathways
from there. Some go to WMNZ’s sorting facility in Lower Hutt, some go to
the sorting plant owned/operated OJ, also located in Lower Hutt. Note that
both facilities are owned by those private entities, and information on
the relevant markets and destinations for recycable materials/products
rests with those entities.

 

For a useful overview of how sorting-part of the recycling system works,
please have a look at [2]https://vimeo.com/290801739 (the facility
featured in the video is not in Wellington, but it is useful for
illustration purposes). Note that various products that are collected
cannot ultimately be recycled because they are effectively waste (eg
nappies, etc), and therefore, some of the collected materials will go to
Silverstream landfill in Lower Hutt.

 

With regard to your request regarding processes, checks or balances Hutt
City Council has in place to check or verify the quality or success of
recycling done by these third parties, note that in response to various
market changes, such as China’s policy changes, Hutt City Council has
sought assurance from its contractor in terms of the destinations of
collected recyclables.

 

Our understanding is that for a variety of recyclable products such as
glass bottles, cans, and cardboard, markets exist within New Zealand. For
example, glass goes to Auckland for processing, and is used to create new
glass bottles. Metal and aluminium cans are baled and sent to metal
recyclers.

 

The market for plastic is more diverse. Certain plastic products have
clear markets, such as PET (Type 1) plastic bottles, which are recycled by
local company Flight Plastics in Lower Hutt
([3]http://www.flightplastics.co.nz/recycling/) and made into products
such as PET kiwifruit containers. But as reported recently in the media,
the market for some other plastic materials, such as mixed plastics,
especially types 3-7,  is becoming increasingly challenging as the value
of these has decreased significantly. We are aware that some of the
materials collected in the Lower Hutt area are exported to South East
Asian countries, including Malaysia, albeit we have been assured that they
are going to receiving facilities that do indeed recycle and/or manage the
materials appropriately.

 

Note that Hutt City Council is currently undertaking a strategic review of
its kerbside collection approach, as the contract for its kerbside
recycling service is coming up for renewal next year. As part of the next
tender process, we will be considering the potential to include additional
reporting and assurance requirements regarding the markets and/or
receiving facilities of collected materials, in order to have better
visibility of the life cycle of collected products.

 

Kind regards

Jörn Scherzer
Manager, Sustainability and Resilience

Hutt City Council, 30 Laings Road, Private Bag 31912, Lower Hutt 5040, New
Zealand
T 04 570 3371, M 021 125 0997,  W [4]www.huttcity.govt.nz

[5]Description: cid:image004.jpg@01D491FB.AB009D30

 

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