Auckland Council contractor accused of mixing rubbish and recycling in one truck

A central Auckland business owner claims he saw a council contractor throwing landfill and recycling into the same rubbish truck.

It has sparked accusations of hypocrisy as Auckland Council has threatened to removed recycling bins from residents who are not following the rules.

The council’s general manager of waste solutions, Parul Sood, said the organisation was “very concerned” to hear the man’s claim but could not confirm the incident. She said any contamination of recycling was unacceptable.

Yesterday, Sood sounded the alarm over Aucklanders’ recycling etiquette and threatened to take away repeat offenders’ bins. She said nappies, soft plastics, bagged rubbish, clothes and textiles were often being found in residents’ recycling bins.

“Auckland’s kerbside recycling contamination has stubbornly remained over 20 per cent for the past year. [It is] costing Auckland ratepayers $3 million a year in sorting and disposal costs.”

The council has been trialling different approaches to encourage residents and businesses to recycle properly since February. Sood pointed to letters sent to offenders, tags being put on bins and other community partner visits as examples of enforcement action.

“We use the tags and letters to warn residents that, if their recycling bin is repeatedly contaminated, their bin may be removed. If contamination continues, we remove the bin,” she said.

“The resident then has the option of using clear bags for a trial period and, if they can demonstrate the correct recycling behaviour for at least three collections, the bin will be returned.”

But the business owner who said he saw a contractor’s truck mix rubbish and recycling into the same compactor believed the council might be operating with a “do as I say and not as I do” ethos.

The man, who asked not to be named, said he saw a council truck indiscriminately collecting waste on High St in the central city on Friday evening. He felt annoyed, saying he put a lot of effort into separating his waste.

“I was a bit bemused, a bit surprised, to see a truck collecting both of the bags and placing them in the same compactor. It seemed [the rubbish collector] was just doing as he was told,” the man said.

“There is an understanding that, when you go to the effort of separating out your recycling and wash[ing] it, it will get recycled … and not that it will all just go to the tip.

“I’m someone who does care about the environment and I think we all go about the recycling and separation of our rubbish to help reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill, so I’m pretty annoyed that we go to this effort and they’re not following through.”

Sood said the council had spoken to its waste collection contractors Programmed and Enviro NZ about the claim and both “assure us it was not them and they follow the contract agreement”.

“It is possible it could have been private commercial contractors, which are outside of council’s control.

“We would like to get to the bottom of this. If anyone sees something like this occurring, we would be grateful if you could get the truck registration and note the time it happened. This would greatly help further investigation.”

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.