Using Solar Power to Boost Recycling

Using Solar Power to Boost Recycling

Whangaparaoa Community Recycling Centre in New Zealand is getting ready for a busy Christmas by harnessing the power of one of the country’s most reliable energy sources; the sun.

The centre has begun using a solar-powered wheelie bin lifter for glass recycling after being given $11,000 by the Glass Packaging Forum. The machine lifts the wheelie bins full of glass and tips them into a storage container. The glass is then taken to a glass manufacturer to be remade into new glass bottles and jars.

What are the benefits?

The new machine takes the strain off workers, who used to have to manually drag the bins up a ramp, lift them up and empty them, and it also enables the recycling centre to deal with the extra glass recycling that is created at Christmas.

The centre processes around 7 tonnes of glass every month, and it’s run jointly by a trust that promotes sustainability and a community business and environment centre, under a contract set up by Auckland council.

Recycle more at Christmas

The recycling charity WRAP estimates that the wrapping paper we throw away at Christmas would stretch to the moon, and that’s without the 1 billion Christmas cards, and food waste. Recycling is a great wat to save resources and stop so much waste going to landfill. But people are generally recycling more these days; here’s how to keep up the good work this Christmas.

• Christmas parties and festive meals create extra glass bottle and can waste which you can put in your recycling box or take to a local recycling point.
• Real Christmas trees are also recyclable and many councils will arrange to come and collect them or if not, they can be taken to a recycling centre, where they are shredded into chippings that are used in playgrounds, parks, and woodland.