Tauranga City Council has received $20.5 million in funding from the Ministry for the Environment.

The funding will enable council to upgrade and future-proof Te Maunga Transfer Station, expand recycling to include number five plastic bottles and containers, and reduce the amount of construction and demolition waste ending up in landfill.

As a result of the Te Maunga Transfer Station upgrade, the Maleme Street site will be closed to the public from August 2.

Minister for the Environment David Parker says the funding will support essential waste infrastructure projects in Tauranga that also serve the broader Bay of Plenty region.

'By reducing the amount of material, especially organics, fibre and construction waste, transported to landfill, we greatly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions created from waste in the region,” says Parker.

Council Commission and Chair Anne Tolley is welcoming the funding, which is part of the Ministry's Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund.

'The city currently sends far more waste to landfill than is necessary and this funding will directly target the issues behind that,” she says.

'The funding will not only help us improve our performance, it is also helping us deliver vital local infrastructure made possible through the Government's investment in capital costs.”

The MfE funding will go towards:

• Kerbside collection bins for 58,000 Tauranga households

• Optical sorting equipment at the Material Recycling Facility

• Upgrading the council's Te Maunga Transfer Station into a Resource Recovery Park, including a construction and demolition waste recovery plant

Council's manager sustainability and waste Sam Fellows says the MfE funding will support Council's goal of halving the amount of waste the average household sends to landfill each year by 2028.

'The MfE partnership will ensure that we can offer a hugely improved recycling and waste disposal facility to serve our City and the region.

'Upgrading our Te Maunga recycling and waste disposal facility will significantly increase the volume of recyclable waste we remove from the waste stream, while the installation of optical sorting equipment will mean that from July 1, residents will be able to put number five plastic bottles and containers into their kerbside recycling bins.”

Kerbside collections

The kerbside collection service cost for the first year will be $210 – which includes GST and the current annual glass recycling service charge of $37.34.

Te Maunga Resource Recovery Park

The intention is to future-proof Te Maunga Transfer Station by upgrading it into an extensive Resource Recovery Park.

Once the upgrades are complete, users will have better recycling and waste disposal facilities, including a reuse centre.

The centre will be run by a not-forprofit organisation and will facilitate the repurposing and upcycling of donated goods.

Fellows says the creation of Te Maunga Resource Recovery Park is a key deliverable in the council's Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, preventing more waste from ending up in landfill.

'Te Maunga will also have a new site specifically for construction and demolition waste recycling, which is much needed in our fast growing region, given the high level of building activity and the closure of the Jack Shaw Cleanfill facility last year.”

The Te Maunga Transfer Station upgrade will cost $14.5 million, with $10.5 million being funded by MfE.

The remaining cost will be covered by the income made through the transfer station, with no additional cost to ratepayers.

Residents will still be able to access Te Maunga while it is being upgraded, as the project will be completed in stages.

Maleme Street Transfer Station

As a result of the decision to introduce kerbside waste collections, as well as the upgrades to Te Maunga Transfer Station, Tauranga City Council has decided to close public access to the Maleme Street Transfer Station from August 2.

The facility will remain open for commercial account holders only, including waste collection companies.

Fellows says the long-term sustainability of the Maleme Street Transfer Station had been under review for some time.

'The Maleme Street Transfer Station is located on a low-lying site, which is prone to flooding. This has led to an unacceptable level of contaminants - mostly from vehicles - entering stormwater drains, which then affects our natural waterways and the animal and plant life they support.

'Efforts to reduce contamination from the site have not been successful and investigations show that other potential upgrading options are not financially viable and offer no certainty that they would solve the site's issues.”

He says the Council appreciates that the closure of the Maleme Street facility to the public will disappoint some people, but the introduction of the new kerbside service, from July 1 will provide all households with convenient rubbish, recycling, glass and food scraps collections, plus an optional garden waste collection, significantly reducing the need to visit the transfer station.

For more information on council's kerbside waste collections service visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/kerbsidecollections