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| June 2003 |
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CCC office cuts waste by two thirds
A year into its Zero Waste to Landfill scheme, the City Council’s main building in Tuam Street has cut the amount of waste it is sending to landfill by about two thirds. Surveys done over the period suggest that of around 100 tonnes of waste generated a year, about 67 tonnes is now being recycled away from the landfill. Before the scheme started the Tuam Street building had a rough paper and cardboard collection system and no way of separating organics from the main waste stream. Zero Waste to Landfill was introduced early last year after a fact-finding visit to the Timaru District Council, which had introduced a similar scheme at its main office. By April 2002, there were no longer any rubbish bins under people’s desks in the Christchurch office, which houses about 800 staff. Instead, workers were each given a set of cardboard trays – one for all kinds of paper and the other for bits and pieces which could be used for craft material at the Council’s early learning centres. People could also get small covered containers in which to collect organic material like apple cores and used teabags. Each floor of the building has areas where people can leave bottles and plastic items that qualify for the city wide Real Recycling (green crate) scheme. They also have places to empty their organics bin (it ends up at a piggery) and any other waste - predominantly plastic wrapping material - that is not yet being recycled in Christchurch and so has to go to landfill. Janet Luxton, a Council staff member who helped bring the scheme in, says it is important that staff have information about why the change is being made and for those running it to keep supporting the idea. "We feel it's working here because we provided reasonably easy alternatives to just throwing things into a bin under your desk and we supported the effort with plenty of information," Ms Luxton says. "We also have a simple incentive scheme to reward groups that are doing well and to help remind everyone else. On top of that we regularly audit the waste streams from each floor so that workers know how they are doing in comparison to others. |