New recycling facility for building waste

Auckland’s first comprehensive recycling facility for building industry waste was opened today by Environment, and Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith.

“This new recycling facility is about greening the building industry, enabling 30,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste to be diverted from going to landfill. It will enable thousands of tonnes of wood, plasterboard, steel, plastics and aggregates from the construction sector to be sorted and re-processed into a reusable form,” Dr Smith says.

The $4.2 million facility is part-funded by a Government grant of $2.1 million from the Waste Minimisation Fund, and has created 15 jobs in the local Onehunga community.

“The opening of this new facility is very timely with Auckland on the brink of its largest ever building boom. The house build rate has increased from 4000 to 8000 per year since 2011, and is expected to grow to over 12,000 homes per year. Each home constructed generates four tonnes of waste and it makes sense to recycle as much of this construction material as possible,” Dr Smith says.

Wood, plasterboard, steel, plastics, aggregates and cardboard are being targeted by CID Resource Recovery for recycling or reuse. Wood will be further processed into biofuel for industrial kilns while old plasterboard can be recycled for use as a soil conditioner. Scrap steel will be extracted by magnet and delivered to metal recyclers for processing and sale on the local or export markets. Various grades of plastic, card and paper will go to local recyclers for processing. Aggregates will be used locally for hardfill or drainage material on building or infrastructure projects.

“This sort of practical approach to recycling typifies the Government’s Bluegreen approach to waste. We are partnering with business to find economically viable ways to recycle waste and focusing on those areas where there are the biggest gains. This initiative is particularly significant as construction and demolition waste makes up half of New Zealand’s total waste going to landfill,” Dr Smith says.

The grant is funded from the Waste Minimisation Fund, established by the Government from a $10 per tonne levy on waste going to landfill that was introduced on 1 July 2009. Over $60 million has been used to fund more than 100 projects over the past five years.

Further information on the Waste Minimisation Fund is available at: www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/waste/waste-minimisation-fund/index.html.