Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transportation and Public Realm.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Transportation and Public Realm regarding comingled Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR) contamination.

The Assistant Director of Street Cleansing advised that the City had experienced recent issues with quality of recycled waste due to new regulations. Dry recycling collected as part of the street cleansing operation was largely free from contamination by non-recyclable waste but there were some issues with household recycling and waste from the Renew bins was highly contaminated.

In response to Members’ questions, the Assistant Director advised that the Department of the Built Environment would look into the costs involved of providing free recycling bags to all residents and the options in relation to the issues that were experienced from the Renew bins. He added that green waste is not collected in the City but food waste was composted and that a wider range of items may be able to be recycled once the new Material Recovery Facility was procured.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and a further report outlining actions in response to the contamination of recycling be presented to the next appropriate Committee meeting.