We will be unveiling our latest sustainability initiative at the Matamata Transfer Station on Thursday, 30 November at 10am. Battery and e-waste recycling collection sheds will take household and power tool batteries and get installed at every transfer station across the district – Matamata, Morrinsville and Waihou (Te Aroha). This will not only minimise the amount of waste going into landfill, but it will also protect the environment and minimise the risk of trucks catching on fire.

When lithium-ion batteries are put under pressure, they can create more heat than they disperse, which leads to a release of energy that can be followed by a fire or explosion. When this type of fire breaks out, the damage can be extensive. They are not only intense, but also long-lasting and potentially toxic. This is not an uncommon occurrence, and there has been an increase in truck fires across the country this year. The main cause of the issue is when people throw out batteries (including electronics, toys, stereos and remotes) in their household rubbish or recycling bins. This has the potential to cost ratepayers huge amounts of money, and more importantly, puts all of the rubbish truck drivers at risk.

The new battery sheds were built by the Matamata Community Men’s Shed, and it took a team of six several days to put them together including the building, metalwork, and painting. It was an important job to them, not just because of the safety aspect, but because they believe in giving back to the community. The Men’s Shed relies on small jobs and donations to keep them going so they can continue to serve our district. “We’re not a profit-making organisation, we’re a community organisation, but we do need to pay our way,” said member Rob Pearson, “and it’s public money so it just goes right back into the community.”

Most of the work they do is voluntary, particularly for charitable organisations and community groups – like decorations for hospitals, games and puzzles for retirement villages, and toys and equipment for play centres and schools. “It’s small things to us, but it’s big things for them,” he continued, grabbing a bag of 200 bingo counters that he had just created for the local bingo players. “There’s a box full of blocks here for pre-schoolers to play with,” says another member. “It’s scrap timber to us, but there’s no sense in wasting it. Otherwise it would just end up getting dumped.”

With the help of Matamata Men’s Shed and E-Cycle, Mayor Adrienne is looking forward to the public having somewhere safe to deposit their batteries and electronic devices. “The battery sheds are a good start in tackling the issue, but we need peoples help to make sure electronics and batteries are disposed of safely, not in household rubbish and recycling. By using the collection sheds, this waste will be put to good use because it’ll be used again in different ways.”

The e-waste will be collected from the transfer stations and managed by E-Cycle, a New Zealand organisation working hard to protect the environment, because at the moment most batteries sit in landfill, leaking toxic materials into the environment. They address this by diverting products from landfill, dismantling them, and then sending them to recyclers to be converted back into raw materials or reused in new products. This aligns with council’s focus to move towards a low-emissions, low-waste society where materials are reused and recycled instead of just going directly into landfill.