Marlborough District Council’s anti-littering efforts include a trash bin every 20 metres in Blenheim town, which partly led it to become the most litter-free place in New Zealand for 2018.
A National Litter County Study showed that Marlborough has the fewest items of litter found for every surveyed 1,000 square metres. The national average comprised 30.5 items, which includes beverage bottles, food packaging, and cigarette butts among the common pieces of litter.
Collective Effort
Despite the presence of many trash bins across Blenheim, district council officials said that litter in the central business district stayed the same since 2015. It only showed that the public’s participation is important in reducing solid waste on streets and roads.
Blenheim’s litter count even increased when compared with the past three years, something that confused local authorities.
While its litter count reached around 15 items per 1,000 square metres, the figure remains below the national average. However, that might not include solid waste products, such as containers of motor oil and other lubricants.
Petroleum Recycling
In terms of recycling, waste oil containers are among the best choices when dealing with used crude oil and other petrol-based liquids. Recycling containers of motor oil and lubricants are a different story, which led the lubricant industry to find a solution for millions of discarded packages.
The Waste Lubricant Container Product Stewardship Scheme will be a key part of closing the gap on recycling waste products. It would be beneficial for reducing landfill waste, where around 7 million containers are from lubricant and grease items alone.
If your business uses a lot of motor oil every year, you can do your part of reducing waste by seeking help from recycling specialists.
Keeping streets free from litter is the first step in reducing the volume of waste sent to landfills. For other specialised forms of recycling, it’s better to find an expert, especially when it involves toxic materials.