1
00:00:09,093 --> 00:00:12,693
Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from news Talk ZEDB. Follow

2
00:00:12,773 --> 00:00:16,933
Speaker 1: this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.

3
00:00:16,733 --> 00:00:18,533
Speaker 2: To rerap this up because it's been a good discussion

4
00:00:18,573 --> 00:00:20,933
Speaker 2: about recycling, but we thought we'd get someone who knows

5
00:00:20,933 --> 00:00:23,453
Speaker 2: what they're talking about to wrap up this hour. Doctor

6
00:00:23,533 --> 00:00:27,653
Speaker 2: Jeff Seden is an independent environmental scientist and integrated waste

7
00:00:27,813 --> 00:00:31,373
Speaker 2: management experty. Joins us on the line, get a doctor sedon.

8
00:00:32,013 --> 00:00:33,653
Speaker 3: Good afternoon, Nice to talk to you.

9
00:00:34,293 --> 00:00:40,333
Speaker 4: What percentage, doctor Seden, of items going through our wheelly

10
00:00:40,412 --> 00:00:44,013
Speaker 4: bins are actually being recycled probably.

11
00:00:43,772 --> 00:00:48,173
Speaker 3: About eighty percent of what goes through, and the other

12
00:00:48,213 --> 00:00:52,973
Speaker 3: twenty percent is due to contaminants. And the difficulty is,

13
00:00:53,013 --> 00:00:56,333
Speaker 3: you know, people put things in a plastic bag and

14
00:00:56,653 --> 00:01:00,612
Speaker 3: then put them into their recycling bin. And while they

15
00:01:00,653 --> 00:01:03,733
Speaker 3: may have put everything correctly into that plastic bag, it's

16
00:01:03,853 --> 00:01:07,573
Speaker 3: the plastic bag itself. It can't be recycled through that system.

17
00:01:08,453 --> 00:01:11,413
Speaker 4: Sen, Sorry, eighty percent is a really high number. I

18
00:01:11,413 --> 00:01:14,613
Speaker 4: haven't seen that anywhere else. I'm hearing that eighty percent

19
00:01:14,652 --> 00:01:17,573
Speaker 4: of what goes through. But if the machine has been

20
00:01:17,693 --> 00:01:19,212
Speaker 4: there's only so much that you can do in any

21
00:01:19,533 --> 00:01:22,572
Speaker 4: given day, and more comes through than they can deal with.

22
00:01:22,733 --> 00:01:22,973
Speaker 1: Is that?

23
00:01:23,253 --> 00:01:25,853
Speaker 4: Is that are you including that in your number? I?

24
00:01:26,133 --> 00:01:30,013
Speaker 3: Yes, I am, and including that, what we've got is

25
00:01:30,173 --> 00:01:34,653
Speaker 3: this level of contamination, which is about twenty percent, and

26
00:01:34,693 --> 00:01:37,413
Speaker 3: so that causes the difficulties.

27
00:01:38,013 --> 00:01:42,572
Speaker 4: So everything that isn't contaminated gets recycled, is that what

28
00:01:42,613 --> 00:01:43,053
Speaker 4: you're saying?

29
00:01:43,773 --> 00:01:48,093
Speaker 3: Not necessarily If you have, say a plastic bag with

30
00:01:48,293 --> 00:01:52,693
Speaker 3: stuff in it for recycling, it won't be recycled because

31
00:01:52,773 --> 00:01:55,293
Speaker 3: the plastic bag itself can't be so they'll just put

32
00:01:55,293 --> 00:01:58,013
Speaker 3: that aside and that ends up going to the landfill.

33
00:01:58,293 --> 00:02:01,293
Speaker 4: So what's the gross number then? So taking into that

34
00:02:01,373 --> 00:02:05,013
Speaker 4: account into what's contaminated? I mean, so you're saying that

35
00:02:05,053 --> 00:02:07,453
Speaker 4: eighty percent of stuff could be recycled, but what percentage

36
00:02:07,533 --> 00:02:10,773
Speaker 4: is actually recycled and becomes another product?

37
00:02:11,613 --> 00:02:14,293
Speaker 3: Yeah, it is around about eighty percent. It's about twenty

38
00:02:14,333 --> 00:02:19,733
Speaker 3: percent which contains stuff that can be recycled like that one's,

39
00:02:19,773 --> 00:02:26,333
Speaker 3: two's fives in paper, et cetera. But they can also

40
00:02:27,013 --> 00:02:30,213
Speaker 3: be in things like plastic bag, so that won't go through.

41
00:02:30,333 --> 00:02:34,813
Speaker 3: And of course then there is the contaminated stuff people

42
00:02:34,813 --> 00:02:37,173
Speaker 3: putting in the nappies and all sorts of stuff.

43
00:02:37,173 --> 00:02:39,012
Speaker 4: So just to get this straight just because I'm sorry,

44
00:02:39,013 --> 00:02:41,213
Speaker 4: I'm a little bit confused here. So you're saying eighty

45
00:02:41,252 --> 00:02:45,933
Speaker 4: percent of the rubbish that's put into recycling bins, say,

46
00:02:45,972 --> 00:02:49,733
Speaker 4: for example in Auckland, goes through the processing part, doesn't

47
00:02:49,813 --> 00:02:53,613
Speaker 4: end up in landfill and gets recycled and becomes another product.

48
00:02:54,453 --> 00:02:55,572
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's about right.

49
00:02:56,252 --> 00:02:59,493
Speaker 2: Wow, is it a change, doctor seed them? Because I

50
00:02:59,573 --> 00:03:02,813
Speaker 2: the messaging from the Christian City Council, for example, before

51
00:03:02,853 --> 00:03:06,012
Speaker 2: the standardized rules came into play, was that there was

52
00:03:06,013 --> 00:03:08,732
Speaker 2: an allowance I believe, of ten percent content the nation

53
00:03:08,972 --> 00:03:11,533
Speaker 2: in a recycling truck and if that was exceeded, the

54
00:03:11,613 --> 00:03:15,373
Speaker 2: whole lot went into into landfill. Was that the case

55
00:03:15,613 --> 00:03:16,773
Speaker 2: before the standardization?

56
00:03:17,773 --> 00:03:20,893
Speaker 3: Yep, that was the case. And you know, likewise they

57
00:03:20,933 --> 00:03:23,532
Speaker 3: allow a certain amount of contamination. So if they can

58
00:03:23,893 --> 00:03:26,573
Speaker 3: pick up the level of contamination as being above the

59
00:03:26,653 --> 00:03:29,412
Speaker 3: ten percent, then the whole thing goes off to landfall.

60
00:03:30,093 --> 00:03:33,852
Speaker 3: And what the what they're discovering is that we're still

61
00:03:33,893 --> 00:03:37,133
Speaker 3: getting about eighty percent. But yes, there is a larger

62
00:03:37,133 --> 00:03:40,813
Speaker 3: amount being sent to landfill than there used to be.

63
00:03:40,853 --> 00:03:43,493
Speaker 3: It used to be about ten percent. But over about

64
00:03:43,493 --> 00:03:46,533
Speaker 3: the last decade or so, people have been putting in

65
00:03:46,613 --> 00:03:50,213
Speaker 3: more contaminants, and where are these.

66
00:03:50,253 --> 00:03:54,213
Speaker 4: Where are these recycled products going? Where are they coming

67
00:03:54,213 --> 00:03:54,973
Speaker 4: out the other end?

68
00:03:55,573 --> 00:03:55,853
Speaker 3: Are they?

69
00:03:56,053 --> 00:03:58,693
Speaker 4: So you say, once it goes through the say the

70
00:03:58,813 --> 00:04:01,333
Speaker 4: refuse transit center, eighty percent of it is that then

71
00:04:01,413 --> 00:04:05,173
Speaker 4: sent to recycling companies that then do the work.

72
00:04:06,053 --> 00:04:09,573
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, it goes through the cycling companies and they

73
00:04:09,653 --> 00:04:13,693
Speaker 3: sell it on to manufacturers, and those manufacturers are both

74
00:04:13,773 --> 00:04:15,773
Speaker 3: local and international.

75
00:04:16,933 --> 00:04:19,373
Speaker 2: Is that system working well at the moment, doctor Seden

76
00:04:19,453 --> 00:04:22,613
Speaker 2: or is there still a lot of flaws within that

77
00:04:22,693 --> 00:04:23,533
Speaker 2: particular system.

78
00:04:24,413 --> 00:04:29,213
Speaker 3: Well, obviously, if you've got twenty percent of the material contaminated,

79
00:04:30,093 --> 00:04:33,493
Speaker 3: then there are full flaws, and it has been increasing.

80
00:04:34,133 --> 00:04:41,293
Speaker 3: The change to a nationwide single system has helped things nationally,

81
00:04:41,853 --> 00:04:45,173
Speaker 3: but there's also been changes like, for example, in Auckland

82
00:04:45,293 --> 00:04:47,613
Speaker 3: used to leave the lids on. In other countries and

83
00:04:47,693 --> 00:04:50,933
Speaker 3: other parts of the country you had lids off bottles,

84
00:04:51,573 --> 00:04:55,613
Speaker 3: and now with that change, that's some people haven't caught

85
00:04:55,693 --> 00:04:58,653
Speaker 3: up with those sorts of changes, even though the publicity's

86
00:04:58,693 --> 00:04:59,093
Speaker 3: been there.

87
00:04:59,293 --> 00:05:00,813
Speaker 4: Oh hey, thank you so much for you. We've got

88
00:05:00,853 --> 00:05:05,293
Speaker 4: to go now, doctor, You've seen an independent environmental scientist.

89
00:05:05,493 --> 00:05:09,053
Speaker 2: Interesting discussion, but I'm still going to put my rubbers

90
00:05:09,053 --> 00:05:11,413
Speaker 2: through the dishwasher because it makes me feel good about myself.

91
00:05:11,533 --> 00:05:12,853
Speaker 4: I'm still very skeptical.

92
00:05:13,453 --> 00:05:16,053
Speaker 1: For more from News Talks at b listen live on

93
00:05:16,173 --> 00:05:19,133
Speaker 1: air or online, and keep our shows with you wherever

94
00:05:19,173 --> 00:05:21,773
Speaker 1: you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio