Southern bin inspectors will be fitted with body cameras in a bid to combat abuse on the job.
Last month, WasteNet began an inspection programme across Southland which aims to educate reckless recyclers ahead of a new ‘three-strikes’ system.
But WasteNet contracts manager Mark Simpson told councillors on Tuesday there had been some incidents of verbal abuse.
“The inspectors are getting set up with body cameras, so that we can obviously record these,” he said.
Although there had been “a couple” of incidents, Simpson noted the response to the new programme had been positive on the whole.
A report prepared for councillors showed 1777 bins had been inspected up to February 25.
Of those, 1514 received a green tag for correct recycling while 217 received an orange tag for low contamination.
Forty-six bins — less than 3% — received a red tag for significant contamination.
WasteNet has opted for a staged rollout of its programme with education the priority before the ‘three-strikes’ system comes into play from March 31.
Repeat offenders risk losing their bins altogether and will only be able to get them back after signing a reinstatement form.
The new system follows similar measures at other centres around the country, including Dunedin, Tauranga and Auckland.
A report prepared for a February Waste Advisory Group meeting showed contamination rate in recycling bins was around 20 percent for the three years to 2022/23.
In 2023/24 alone, almost $340,000 was spent redirecting waste to landfill.
WasteNet previously undertook bin inspections across Southland between 2012 – 2016 but has focused on education in the years since.
Inspections are being done across Invercargill City Council and Southland District Council areas, with Gore District Council left out due to not having a “co-mingling” recycling collection service.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
