Recycling trumps dumping

OIL, STEEL, POLYSTYRENE, SOFT PLASTICS, HARD PLASTIC — ALL PRESENT A PROBLEM TO RECYCLE … BUT FOR MOTORCYCLE MEGASTORE DEALERS CYCLESPOT, GETTING TO THE NUB OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM HAS OFFERED UP A SURPRISE

Having enormous bins of rubbish going to landfill, and the cost of dumping them, prompted Cyclespot’s Grant Woolford and his wife Melissa to take a serious look at what other options were out there.

Grant says they always felt guilty about the rubbish, and when he looked closely he found the twice weekly dumping of the bins to landfill was not only costly but also environmentally destructive.

The solution — instead of dumping all the rubbish in one big bin, take a little time to sort and separate it, and find suitable recyclers for the different items.

So, for example, when a motorbike comes in from a supplier now, the team takes out all the steel from the packaging for it to be picked up by the scrap dealer.

“It didn’t cost us a cent,” Grant says.

Service manager Laurie Witham says everything related to the disposal of rubbish has been about reduction.

“We used to have an enormous rubbish bin and we have reduced the size of it, which reduced the cost of collections and the frequency of collections to half the previous number.

“Although there is a cost to recycle, it is off-set by the savings.”

He says cardboard has been recycled for years but it was plastics and polystyrene, along with soft plastics, that were making up the bulk of what was being thrown out.

“There is also a large amount of steel we recycle from the motorcycle crates which we get paid for and the used oil from servicing motorbikes also goes off to be used again,” Laurie says.

The main message Grant says he wants to get out to Motor Trade Association members is it shouldn’t cost a business — it won’t take a on business cash flow is making it even harder.

Other government initiatives announced in November include: massive effort to do and the benefits outweigh doing nothing.

• A new $4 million fund to support local councils in Auckland, Hamilton, and Bay of Plenty with crime prevention programmes.

• Existing $6 million Retail Crime Prevention fund eligibility expanded to include aggravated robberies, including those committed during the past 12 months.

MTA will work with police and the government to ensure members get the best access to funding and resources.

For more information on recycling, including what can be recycled and how, visit recycle.co.nz.

More than 3800 automotive sector businesses enjoy the benefits of MTA membership. To find out more, and how to join, contact mta@mta.org.nz, or visit www.mta.org.nz.