WASTE PAPER DEPOT

Southland Times, Issue 24820, 12 August 1942, Page 4

WASTE PAPER DEPOT

WORK IN FULL SWING Thirty-five bales of paper are lying at the waste paper depot in Esk street waiting dispatch to the mills. A huge quantity of paper is ready to be sorted and further lots are being received every day. But in contrast with the situation that has been created in some centres in the North Island the workers at the depot have not been overwhelmed by an avalanche of paper. There have been sufficient workers to cope with the situation. Women workers, that is. There is still a shortage of male volunteers to work the baling presses and handle the bales. There are now three sorting tables in use at the depot compared with one when work first began,. Several firms in the city have sent along large quantities of paper, the accumulation of years in some cases. Waste paper from offices, such as old ledgers, letters, and invoices, is very welcome. It is the best sort of paper for the purpose and is generally of good quality. Large numbers of magazines have also been received at the depot. Some of these will be reserved for reading matter for members of the armed forces, but the majority are not suitable for this purpose as they are publications Intended for women. Some of the books received at the depot have been sent to the patriotic depot in Don street for inclusion in soldiers’ parcels, but the majority are not suitable and will be sent to the paper makers. COLLECTION PROBLEM (P.A.) WELLINGTON, August 11. The collection of waste paper was not lagging because it had been undertaken as a voluntary effort, but because of the general shortage of labour which was available for the reclamation of waste material, Mr Charles Todd, chairman of the Council for the Reclamation of Waste Material, stated in reply to the claim by Mr E. W. Clarkson, secretary of the commercial printers’ organization, that reclamation could not succeed on a voluntary basis. Mr Todd said the collection of waste paper was undertaken primarily' to provide raw material for the mills and the appeal to the public to give paper was helped by the fact that practically all the labour required was volimteered so that the profits could go for patriotic purposes. The collection of waste paper in New Zealand had never been un~ dertajeen on a commercial basis and it was more difficult to get labour now than ever before under a voluntary system. The Whakatane mill was over-supplied and supplies to Mataura were being increased as fast as possible.