Auckland Refuse To Be Turned Into Compost

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30171, 1 July 1963, Page 15

Auckland Refuse To Be Turned Into Compost

"The Press" Special Service

AUCKLAND, June 30. The conversion of Auckland city refuse into compost which, it is hoped, will be worth at least £25.000 a year, will begin on August 5 when the £245.000 bio-stabiliser plant being established by the City Council at Mount Wellington starts its trials. At the outset rubbish from the eastern suburbs will be fed into the plant. The intake will be increased gradu-

ally until practically all Auckland’s refuse is absorbed. In addition to revenue from compost, the new plant, the first of its kind in New Zealand, is expected to earn about £lOOO a year from the sale of ferrous material extracted from the refuse. This will be pressed into bales and sent to the Pacific Steel mill at Otahuhu. The bio-stabiliser, a Danish invention, is regarded as the most economic means available for refuse disposal. The decision to install it was made after extensive overseas investigations by the council’s design engineer, Mr G. A. Hutchinson.

Shortage of tipping space in the city area made a new pattern of disposal imperative. The new plant will reduce tip space requirements by 300 per cent, and, with a capacity of 100 tons a day, will meet the city’s needs for several years.

The plant will cover five of the eijUit acres the council owns. Unused land will make future extensions easy and economic. The surroundings of the plant are to be landscaped. Although the stabilisers will work round the clock producing 7000 tons to 8000 tons of compost a year, a staff of only six men will be needed. Orders have already been received for several hundred cubic yards of compost.

Service Station Entered.— Wilson's Service Station in Victoria street was broken into on Friday night and goods, including cigarettes, of a total value of £2O, were stolen