Christchurch’s recycling facility benefits from $16.8m upgrade

Residents are being reminded to continue recycling correctly following a $16.8 million upgrade of the city’s recycling facility.

EcoCentral has overhauled its Materials Recovery Facility in Parkhouse Road, Sockburn, using a $16.8 million grant that it received from the Ministry for the Environment’s special Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund.

It has installed new equipment, including eight optical sorters, two ballistic screens, four bounce conveyors and an eddy current separator. The upgrade provides the facility, where Christchurch’s recycling gets sorted and prepared for sale, with greater ability to sort plastics, paper and cardboard.

“Updating the technology means the plant will be able to sort paper and plastics to a higher standard where we can meet 0.5 per cent contamination threshold. This means we will be able to sell to international markets easier,’’ says EcoCentral Chief Executive Craig Downie.

“However we will only be able to do this if we continue to receive high quality recycling – this means everyone putting the right items in the right bins. If wrong items go into the yellow bin it can contaminate the recycling, meaning we may be unable to sell the material.

In Christchurch only clean cardboard, paper, tin and aluminium cans, glass bottles and jars rigid plastic bottles and containers marked with the numbers 1, 2 or 5 should go in the yellow wheelie bin for recycling.

Residents will have the opportunity to view the upgraded facility at the Materials Recovery Facility public open day on Saturday 18 February 2023, 9am-1pm.