2011-2012 Annual Report - Full Version - PDF - Palmerston North ...

Activity - Rubbish and RecyclingWhat the Council doesThe Council collects, disposes or processes refuseand recyclables from households and businessesin the City. Recycling facilities are provided atFerguson Street, the Awapuni landfill site and theAshhurst transfer station.Rubbish collected from kerbside collections inthe City and non-recyclable waste is taken to theprivately owned and managed Bonny Glen landfill.The Activity also includes waste minimisation andpublic education services.The Council reviewed and adopted its WasteManagement and Minimisation Plan in 2009. Oneof the key actions in this Plan has been improvingkerbside collections for recycling by using wheeliebins instead of plastic supermarket bags.The Council develops and implements a Rubbishand Recycling asset management plan to ensurethat these assets can deliver reliable services toexisting and future customers in the most costeffective and sustainable way.One of the key contributions this Activity makesto environmental sustainability is by divertingwaste from the landfill into beneficial uses. Thisis also a key focus of the Waste Management andMinimisation Plan.Gases, such as methane, that are emitted fromthe landfill are captured and used to generateelectricity to assist in running the WastewaterTreatment Plant, thereby avoiding emissions tothe atmosphere.Why the Council does this and itscontribution to Council vision andmajor goalsThe Rubbish and Recycling Activity contributes toall three of the Council’s goals for the City of peoplewanting to live here, attracting and retainingbusinesses and environmental sustainability.People want to live in a place that helps them lookafter the environment by making recycling easy.They want the City to have reliable and efficientwaste and recyclables kerbside collection services.They want to minimise the amount of waste thatgoes into landfills.Businesses also rely on the efficient collection ofwaste from their business.What happened in the yearWith the success of the wheelie bin introductionin 2010, the 2011/12 year saw a focus onoptimisation of the recycling systems. After 18months of operation the Material Recovery Facilityat Awapuni underwent a series of upgrades whichgreatly improved the efficiency of the sortingprocess to enable better quality recycled materialsto be produced as well as reducing the number ofpeople required on the sort line.Work also was undertaken at the Awapunicomposting site to improve the operationalefficiency and to investigate options for thecomposting of more sewage sludge. Work in thisarea will continue in 2012/13 in conjunction withinvestigations into the feasibility of improvedgreen and garden waste collection in the City.People want to live in a placethat helps them look after theenvironment by making recyclingeasy. They want the City to havereliable and efficient waste andrecyclables kerbside collectionservices. They want to minimisethe amount of waste that goes intolandfills.Minor works continued on the landfill gas systemsto maximise the volume of gas collected and theamount of electricity generated. Landfill gasproduction continues to underperform but thepotential financial penalties associated with notfulfilling Council’s obligation to supply carboncredits to the Austrian Government were avertedwith the signing of a variation to the agreementconditions. The landfill gas system will bemonitored in the coming year and options foroperation of the system in the next four yearswill be evaluated. Council sponsored wasteminimisation education programmes continued,with programmes completed in 15 primary schoolsin Palmerston North. The Zero Waste Academy(a joint partnership between Massey Universityand the Council) had a very successful year withMassey University providing consultancy andexpert advice on a number of waste minimisationissues.What the Council Does Rubbish and RecyclingEnvironmentalSustainability...Palmerston North City Council Annual Report 2011/12101