RUBBER SALVAGE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 308, 31 December 1942, Page 4

RUBBER SALVAGE

THE COUNCIL’S AIM | Six TO TEN THOUSAND TONS Wellington, Dec. 30. Wellington has had its rubber drive and did rather well, but later collections will be held and under no circumstances should any quantity or quality of rubber be burned or sent to city dumps from which it cannot be recovered; every halfounce of it should be put aside, at hand for the next drive or other collection. The December bulletin from the National Council for the Reclamation of Waste sets out the policy for rubber collections througnout the Dominion (the Wellington drive some weeks ago being more or less by way of a foundation campaign to see what was what in rubber gathering) and states that the Dominion objective is from 6000 to 10,000 tons of scrap rubber, to be reached within the next few months. The rubber is to be reused partly in New Zealand and partly overseas. Tyres that are retreadable are to be sent to retread companies, with first emphasis upon all truck tyres. Rubber companies in Auckland and Christchurch will take substantial quantities of scrap, and the surplus will go overseas, possibly to Australia, for exchange for tyres and goods needed for military and other urgent uses. Apart from manufacture of scores of small types of rubber equipment for hospital, military and essential civilian needs, the Director of Production (Mr. G. Jackson) told the National Council, there is an urgent need for rubber soles to ease the demand on leather, now in short supply and in high demand. The bulletin gives the prices to be paid for rubber scrap, running from £3 a ton for miscellaneous waste to as high as £B4 for clean crepe rubber cuttings; crepe soles stripped from shoes will bring £3O a ton. Tyres beyond hope of repair and gumboots are worth £4 10s a ton. Special low rates will be charged by the Railway Department and most of the work is being done by voluntary service so that the return to the patriotic funds should be substantial. That will be all to the good, but the rubber position is so serious that collection of every scrap is, after all. the first consideration. To the individual the bit of scrap that he can find about the home or office is quite without value, but several hundred thousand bits and pieces will make up the tons, and nothing can be passed over if the 10,000 tons hoped for are to be found. The picking out of useful waste and its contribution co the national bins have not been taken se»<ously enougn by New Zealand people, who ! even now refuse to recognise that they are in what our American frie*nds call a hot spot as regards rubber, paper and some of the metals. The high praise that has been given after one or another successful drive . for boctles, rubber, cleaning rags—has not had much effect upon people who so far have “left it to George” and have not lifted a finger to help the waste collections along.