Recycling - What and How

When you choose to hire your waste bin from The Pink Bin Company Ltd we make sure that as much of your rubbish as is possible is recycled.

Recycle-Pink is the New green!

A significant percentage of the household and commercial waste Pink Bins collects can be recycled or re-used rather than being sent to landfills. It makes good environmental sense for PINK BINS^TM to increase this ‘recycled’ component by using every strategy and innovation possible. The commercial gains are obvious and the environmental benefits can no longer be ignored. Here is a description of the recycling PINK BINS^TM currently undertakes. We are committed to recycling and to developing new processes for doing our part to improve the environment - the possibilities are exciting!

Our own recycling and sorting plant is key to the efficient disposal of collected waste.
PINK BINS^TM runs a recycling centre at Grayson Avenue in Manukau City. All bins are emptied here and our team of fulltime floor staff set about separating recyclables from unrecyclable rubbish. Examples of recyclable rubbish includes; metals (ferrous and non-ferrous), treated and untreated timbers, hard fill, Plasterboard and green waste. This sorted waste is loaded into 35 cubic metre bins and transported on truck and trailer units to companies who take up the next step of the recycling process.

Green waste is trucked daily to a company which leads the field in organic composting and fertilizer production. This is, in turn, sold to customers with interests in horticulture, viticulture and pastoral farming. What is notable about this recycling operation is the commitment to organic and sustainable practices using sound science. The organic composting process is aerobic, accelerated with steam technology and augmented by vermiculture. High composting temperatures destroy seeds and non- biodegradable fibrous materials are screened out and incinerated (producing potash fertilizer). Fertilizer blends are made using gypsum from the plasterboard recovery operation.

Plaster Board has now become a resource rather than a waste product. PINK BINS^TM transports clean plaster board to a recovery plant in South Auckland. The board is stockpiled, bulldozed and left to degrade in the weather. Over time the outer paper disintegrates and any gypsum runoff is collected as sediment in adjacent ponds. After further processing the gypsum granules (lime) are mixed with the compost produced on the adjacent site to make a range of organic fertilizers.

Wood waste is sorted at PINK BINS^TM before being trucked to a wood recycling plant in South Auckland. Here these materials are turned into wood chips and exportable wood products. End uses are varied and include such things as: horse training tracks, horticultural mulches, nurseries, farming, construction site protection etc.
The chips can be dyed in several colours to suit their application. This plant also produces good quality ferrous scrap from the nails embedded in the timbers.

Ferrous metal is separated from non-ferrous metals at PINK BINS^TM recycling centre. Ferrous metals are taken to two different recyclers. Smaller sized scrap is stockpiled and fed to the plant's massive crushers. The resulting pellets supply the adjacent steel rolling mill. Bigger scrap is trucked to a different area of the yard where it is cut up before further processing.

Non Ferrous Metal is sorted into the different base metals and then taken to the recyclers after dismantling at the Grayson Ave centre.

The Landfill is used for mixed waste which cannot at present be graded and sent to recovery plants. But a modern landfill site such as Hampton Downs south of Auckland City is a far cry from ‘the dump’ of the past. Hampton Downs is closed to the public. Waste is tipped into special purpose-constructed basins. These vast basins are lined with fine clay and aggregate to make them impermeable to leached liquids. The basin is tilted so that liquid that leaches from the waste runs and can be collected and pumped to holding reservoirs. Each day the tip site is covered with a layer of soil to prevent smells and increase biodegradation. To further the organic breakdown the collected liquid is frequently sprayed onto the tip surface. Methane gas is collected from the rotting matter and used to generate power for surrounding users. All trucks leaving the site pass through a spray decontamination station. When a tip basin is finally full the site will be re-contoured to fit the surrounding landscape.

When you hire a PINK^TM waste bin or rubbish skip, you are joining us in our efforts to help our environment by reducing, reusing, and recycling.

When it comes to recycling remember the three R’s
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle