Staff working at Te Awamutu's recycling plant were put at risk by live ammunition that someone sent out for recycling, its operator says. Photo: RNZ/ Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Animal carcasses, frying pans, knifes: these are just some of what arrives mixed in with the recycling at the Te Awamutu recycling sorting facility in Waikato.
But nothing has scared the plant's Contracts Co-ordinator Angela Hill as much as a worker finding a live piece of ammunition.
She said the 12-gauge live shotgun cartridge could have exploded anywhere in the process, causing recycling and machinery parts to act like shrapnel.
If it had got to the bailer machine, she said the force would have been catastrophic.
"Anytime during that compression, that could have blown up... I could have had a staff member seriously seriously injured," she said.
Andrew Jameson with the bullet he found when working on the sorting line. Photo: RNZ/ Libby Kirkby-McLeod
In the rural district of Waipa, ammunition waste is something they look out for, especially during hunting season, along with animal carcasses.
A deer carcass (the head and skin) arrived at the centre recently.
"That is something that is blatantly not recycling. That's not something you get confused about," Hill said.
Another bullet cartridge was found the day RNZ visited, though that one was not a live bullet.
"Something that can take someone's life or maim them is a really really wrong thing to be [in the recycling]," she said.
Te Awamutu recycling plant Contracts Co-ordinator Angela Hill looks at some of the incorrect items that have been handed in for recycling. Photo: RNZ/ Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Hill had no time for excuses.
"It's not that hard, recycling is not that hard - it's really simple," she said.
Andrew Jameson found the live ammunition when working on the sorting line. He said when he realised it was a shotgun shell, he thought he better get it off the line and report it.
"Everyone gets worried when you see something like that," he said.
A staff member working the bailer machine - Angela Hill said if the bullet had got into the compressor the force would have been catastrophic. Photo: RNZ/ Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Trevor (who did not give his last name) works with Andrew, the most disgusting thing he said he'd had to deal with was when the whole sorting line filled up with dirty nappies.
"Everything pretty much comes on this line, it's quite disgusting to see what actually comes up here. To see what people chuck in their recycling bin, it's not ok really," he said.
For many years Waipa District Council (WDC) has not offered a rubbish service, instead letting the market provide a service while it focuses on recycling.
Rubbish was now 25 to 35 percent of what came through the recycling centre, and paying to dispose of that rubbish was costing the council up to $30,000 a month.
WDC's Bryan Hudson said the council was willing to see whether offering a rubbish service would help.
"Council has done a bit of financial modelling and service modelling to see what it would cost to re-introduce the system and what benefits there would be to ratepayers," he said.
However, he did not see a rubbish service as a magic solution.
"I do hear from other councils around the country, including ones who provide a rubbish service as well, that they still have a lot of contamination they are dealing with."
He said 95 percent of the district's residents were doing a great job with their recycling.
"Council does their best to provide these services, we do see that a lot in our community do respect it and appreciate it," he said.
Of the five percent whose recycling was contaminated, 2.5 percent were given recycling education to improve, while 1.5 percent received a warning.
The other 0.5 percent have had a full suspension of their recycling service.
