Monday, November 11, 2024

Polystyrene recycling pulls in to Palmy

A new recycling drop-off point for clean household polystyrene is now available at Palmerston North City Council’s Ferguson Street Recycling Centre.

Group Manager of Resource Recovery, Bryce Hosking says the new service will likely be a big hit with locals.

“Last year we asked residents if they needed a service like this, and the overwhelming response was ‘Yes!’ A lot of people are sick of cramming bulky polystyrene into their rubbish bins and bags, so we’re pleased to be introducing this new service for Palmy,” he said.

“Because polystyrene is lightweight, bulky, and difficult to clean, it’s a costly material to recycle at an efficient scale; hence why we’ve been investigating this for a while.”

The polystyrene will be compacted by a hot melt densifier machine before being recycled into new products. The service is limited to households only.

“This service is for all Palmy residents, but not for commercial purposes. Our recycler, E-Cycle, intends to extend this service to commercial customers, so if you’re interested, please get in touch with them directly,” said Mr Hosking.

To recycle 100 grams worth of polystyrene, the cost is 70 cents. For the polystyrene that comes with an average inkjet printer, the cost will be just over $3.

“Instead of covering the costs to provide this service in your rates, we’ve gone with a user pays option, like our other recycling options, as some households don’t go through any polystyrene at all. This was one of the areas of feedback we received last year.”

“We’re committed to being an eco-city and our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan has a goal of increasing the proportion of waste diverted from landfill from 38% to 48% by 2025. We can’t do this alone, so enabling our residents to recycle more items is crucial in helping achieve our targets,” said Mr Hosking.

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