Clutha Rubbish

Just last week I took a three day trip to Dunedin to catch up with the old recycling trucks before a new contract starts there in July next year. I figured it too would be worth my time to shoot across to the Clutha District and film the trucks WasteCo run around the council given the lack of footage available online. Normally two units carry out the frontline work, one being the GenV/Isuzu featured in this video and the other an SL85/Isuzu. Unfortunately, the usual Manco was disappointingly (yet somehow unsurprisingly) off the road, and filling in was a former Auckland recycling truck.
I drove out to Clutha first thing on a Thursday morning, arriving in the township of Waihola just after 7:00am and videoing the former Auckland truck, then driving across to Kaitangata where I caught up with this truck cruising through the streets. The driver was initially a little confused about what I was trying to achieve, however, after explaining my intentions he turned out to be really relaxed about the videos.
Back in 2014, Delta (a LATE owned by Dunedin City Council) bought this unit to replace an aging ACCO/Raptor, which would've run alongside the Manco acquired in 2011 when the contract commenced. Said contract saw the introduction of the kerbside recycling service (excluding glass) in April 2012 and the move away from weekly refuse collection. The original term was for five years, however, this was obviously extended and the council website now states its end to be in October 2023. Prior to this, local company EcoWaste provided the single-stream service, which would have kicked off sometime in the mid-to-late 90s and involved the roll-out of the old 240L OTTO bins, some of which still remain.
I assume it was around 2017 when WasteCo acquired the contract, given this is when they took over the collection operations of Delta in the Waitaki District one council over, however, I am not entirely sure of the exact timeline. WasteCo also manages the council landfill at Mt Cooee, where all the waste collected is dumped. The truck actually went to tip-off halfway through my visit, but thankfully it was only a 20-minute return trip, and I was able to hang around while waiting for its return.
WasteCo is a relatively new company, based here in Christchurch, with operations also around the Timaru and mentioned Waitaki districts. Although still small in comparison to other major players, over the past few years they have seen significant growth, acquiring some smaller companies in Otago, as well as securing the FullCircle/OJI fibre contract in Christchurch. They've also received hefty government funding to further develop their resource recovery facility, so may well be a company to watch over the next few years as some smaller council contracts expire.
Massive thanks to the driver for being very accommodating of my presence and request for videos!
enjoy,,,
Please note that under NO CIRCUMSTANCE is any of the footage seen here to be used against the driver(s) and/or contractor(s). This video is for entertainment purposes, not to critique nor shine a poor light on any of the involved parties. Should there be any issues, please contact me.