Recycling study ‘will not be shelved’

Press, 1 September 1977, Page 6

Recycling study ‘will not be shelved’

A Christchurch city councillor yesterday said that the rubbish recycling study was too slow, but other councillors said the investigation of ways to use rubbish again would not be shelved. Cr Vicki Buck said the committee should stop trying to weigh every scheme on economic grounds, since the dumping of rubbish was completely uneconomic in the first place.

This was disputed by the City Engineer (Mr P. G. Scoular), who said that rubbish dumping had been beneficial in filling areas for future land development, and that land was the only nonrenewable resource. The works and traffic committee chairman (Cr P. D. Dunbar) said it was a “gross mis-representation” for Cr Buck to say that the council had never been interested in recycling. Different projects had been considered over the last 10 years. Those studies usually came down to an end product that few people wanted, he said. That had been the sticking point. Even large overseas plants had not produced enough saleable products to offset [Costs. Mr Scoular said the (end product had to be in at

least enough demand to be given away. The committee said more voluntary groups should be encouraged to collect newspapers for recycling. Studies of other rubbish would continue.

A detailed analysis of rubbish dumped at the Bexley tip would start on September 14, said the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr H. G. Hay). Local bodies had an obligation to study every possible way of reusing materials, he said. The tip study will last until September 23, and some information would be sought from tip users. Sampling would be supervised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, who would help the council, the Environment Centre and a company specialising in waste recovery in the project. A study of the rubbish would be a necessary first step before any large-scale recycling operation. In the end, Mr Hay said, the Government would have to help with financial assistance.

He agreed with Cr Buck in saying that some aspects “may involve considerations that are not purely financial, but are necessary because of the inevitable depletion of finite resources.”