Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed a fantastic Xmas break. To kick off our first post for 2019, we thought it’d be a good idea to cover some changes happening in our business and the waste industry in general.
New front-end loader
Our poor-old digger works way too hard. So, soon we’ll be getting a new Hitachi ZW80 front-end loader to ease the burden. The new machine is far more suited for pushing up rubbish, and, thanks to being fitted with solid rubber tyres, will be able to drive over nails. Very convenient. All in all, the purchase of the Hitachi ZW80 will enable us to run our recycling plant much more efficiently.
Goodbye, Gavin, & welcome, Arma
After four years’ service, owner/driver Gavin is leaving us to pursue new opportunities down the line. Thanks, Gavin, for your hard work and commitment. To fill Gavin’s shoes, though, we welcome Arma. With about 14 years’ experience as an owner/driver in the waste industry, he’ll be a great addition to the team.
Landfill levies will rise
In a previous post, we explained that the current landfill levy ($10 per tonne) is due to increase. At this stage, we don’t know when this will happen, but we’ll be surprised if not this year. Of course, the reason for the levy is to encourage the general public and businesses to send less waste to landfill, which, is a good thing for the environment. However, levy increases will inevitably mean that we’ll need to put up our prices.
A way to save on waste disposal costs
Instead of hiring a general waste bin, you can save some dollars by hiring a dedicated bin instead. For example, if you’re doing a large renovation, you could save as much as $100 by hiring a timber bin. To learn more about the types of bins available, click here.
Soft plastics collection on hold
Kiwis, it seems, have taken enthusiastically to the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme — so much so that New Zealand’s processing plants can no longer cope.
Unfortunately, processing ground to a halt in December last year. This happened because a processing plant in Melbourne, Australia, could no longer accept New Zealand’s excess plastic waste due to China’s decision to stop receiving international plastic waste.
What does this all mean? Well, soft plastic recycling has been suspended until April this year. In the meantime, Packaging Forum chairman Malcolm Everts recommends binning soft plastics along with our other non-recyclable waste. To many of us, this will seem like an anathema; we’ll be tempted to store our soft plastics until everything comes right. Everts, however, warns against doing this, as the plastics could become contaminated and, therefore, unsuitable for future processing.