About this campaign

Auckland City Council has put the contract for managing Waiheke’s waste up for tender.

It is likely that as soon as early May a Council committee will decide who will be managing our waste resource, which Clean Stream Waiheke currently manages. If the council chooses not to re-new Clean Stream’s contract we will lose an innovative and internationally respected recycling centre which provides 22 jobs and $800,000 of wages and services to the community, as well as a decade of hard work by passionate, local leading experts.

Download the Full Fact Sheet on Saving Waiheke's Waste Resources (pdf format)
Download the Why It's Wheelie Wheelie Stupid Info Sheet (pdf format)

A decision to take our waste resource away and process recyclables in Auckland means:

• there will be more waste going to landfill
• there will be lower quality recycled products from Auckland (damaging to New Zealand’s export reputation)
• transport costs for recyclables will increase
• more and bigger trucks will need to be on our already fragile roads
• more climate polluting greenhouse gases will be made

It is difficult to know why a successful non-profit community venture such as Clean Stream would be shut down in preference for an off-island operator. One possibility is that a new municipal recycling facility (MRF) has opened in Onehunga, Auckland. It was designed and is operated by the Australian waste company Visy.

Auckland and Manukau ratepayers bought the MRF (between $21-30million) and while Visy runs the plant, both Auckland and Manukau city council's receive a percentage of the gate fee. Essentially, Waiheke's recyclables would become a source of revenue for Auckland City Council and if it decides to award the contract to an off-island tenderer it will be TAKING MONEY AND JOBS FROM OUR COMMUNITY.

Visy's operation is not finding markets for their poorly sorted recycled material. Clean Stream on the other hand are finding markets because of the high quality sorting and processing at our recycling station.

Click here to see Visy asking for Government hand outs.

History and Background of Waiheke's waste

Until the amalgamation with Auckland in 1989, Waiheke had an emerging recycling scheme and a composting programme. After amalgamation those initiatives deteriorated. Almost a decade later, in 1998, local residents, concerned with the lack of effective waste diversion, took action and formed the Waste Resources Trust (WRT) in order to initiate effective programmes. WRT won the tender to manage Waiheke's waste resource and set up a non-profit community company, Clean Stream Waiheke Ltd, in partnership with a Kaitaia-based community waste operator to do the task. It has been a huge success.

Any profits from Clean Stream go back into the community through events, education programmes, some of which are run in conjunction with the island’s schools. For example, Junk To Funk is a WRT event run with the profits from Clean Stream and the Bokashi composting system was introduced to Waiheke's restaurants by the WRT.

Waste is a resource for any community and Clean Stream Waiheke Ltd’s annual turnover is in excess of $1,300,000 per annum and contributes over $800,000 in wages and services paid within our local community. The money is made in the community, by the community, for the community.

There is not one good reason to give our waste resource to another contractor and lost of good reasons for Clean Stream to keep doing what it does.

Our transfer and recycling station:

• Employs up to 22 staff
• Contributes $800,000 in wages and services within our community
• Converts 25,000 litres of used cooking oil from local restaurants per year to bio-diesel which runs Clean Stream's vehicle fleet
• Helps Waiheke residents achieve one of the top recycling rates and diversion of waste from landfill in the country – double the new national target at almost 40%
• Has no fee for green waste and produces mulch for re-use in our gardens. It recycles almost 2000 tons of green waste per year
• Diverts glass jars with lids for use in home jam making and preserving
• Operates an innovative and award winning glass crusher for un-recyclable glass, which creates a product similar to sand that can be used for drainage and is being tested as a vineyard mulch
• Has a demolition yard that diverts building waste and creates kitset compost bins
• Produces such high quality sorted bales of plastic and cardboard that these can be freighted back to Auckland in the empty trucks that stock Woolworths and are still finding national and international markets even in today's dire economy.

Did you know?

That already $1.9 million dollars of ratepayers money has been spent towards upgrading the Island's transfer and recycling station, but the Council put it on hold.

That the Council has already put the money aside for wheelie bins for Waiheke, just in case they give the contract to a new operator and vote for wheelie bins for Waiheke? We've also heard that some of the wheelie bins may even have been purchased. Do you think they've already made up their minds?

That our councilor, Denise Roche cannot vote or speak on this issue at all and no other councilor has been appointed to represent Waiheke, so we have no Council representation.

This website was put together by a group of concerned Waiheke residents who are not employed by or affiliated with Clean Stream and / or the Waste Resource Trust.