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The Mahurangi Wastebusters Trust Board is ready to roll out new transitional waste and resource recovery services. From left, Trish Allen (secretary), Matthew Luxon (director, Mahurangi Wastebusters), Elizabeth Foster, Simon Barclay (chairperson) and Audrey Sharp. Absent, John McIntyre.
New transitional waste and resource recovery services are on the way for the transfer station sites currently operating at Lawrie Road, Snells Beach and Rustybrook Road, Wellsford.
Mahurangi Wastebusters has won the contract to open a new community recycling centre at each of the sites, which are currently run by the commercial waste company, Northland Waste.
Council’s Waste Solutions programme director Parul Sood says both sites will close on July 1 so critical remediation works can be undertaken, with transitional arrangements re-opening to the public around mid-July.
Mahurangi Wastebusters has secured a two-year transitional services contract.
Ms Sood says their approach will create a step change in local services, while the sites are being remediated, with a shift in focus from waste disposal to resource recovery.
“Importantly, this allows Council to further work towards its goal under the 2018 Waste Management and Minimisation Plan to develop a resource recovery network and create a community recycling centre in the Warkworth/Wellsford region,” she says.
Rodney Local Board chair Beth Houlbrooke says the new community recycling centres will deliver on two key outcomes that the community wanted to see from the transitional services – to ensure services remained affordable for residents and local businesses and that the new services would make it easy for everyone to do the right thing with their waste.
Ms Sood says Mahurangi Wastebusters’ range of proposed new services strongly aligns with Council’s goal of achieving zero waste to landfill by 2040, as well as delivering an enhanced community education programme, and providing new employment and volunteering opportunities for the local community.
In the first year, they are aiming to divert half of the materials received from landfill, rising to 65 per cent in 2021, and 70 per cent by 2022. These targets will meet community demands for services that deliver better resource recovery and recycling results, particularly in e-waste, and green waste and composting services, Ms Sood says.
“Both sites will re-open in mid-July, each as a Community Recycling Centre, with a range of new services rolling out to both residents and small businesses across the area over July and August. Mahurangi Wastebusters’ transitional services will remain in place until completion of the remediation works.”
The introduction of the new services at Lawrie Road and Rustybrook Road will not affect kerbside collection services for local residents. These will continue as normal.
“Investigations to remediate the closed landfills at both sites are underway, but still to be completed. Once investigations are concluded, a detailed scope will be developed, and Council will then decide how these works will be carried out.”
It is estimated that the remediation works will take around two years to complete. The long-term future of the sites will be determined following further consultation with the community to ascertain the long-term needs for waste and resource recovery services.
