2325 tonnes of Rena waste processed so far

About 2325 tonnes of waste from the stricken cargo ship Rena has been processed since it ran aground off Tauranga in October, clean-up company Braemar Howells show.

Of that, 1870 tonnes has gone into landfills while 117 tonnes has been liquid waste, mostly blood from meat freezers.

Around 177 tonnes of the rubbish was collected from Waihi Beach and 77 tonnes from Matakana Island.

About 25 tonnes of milk powder has been collected and 120 containers have been processed by Braemar Howells.

The figures include waste which washed ashore and waste collected from the sea.

Braemar Howells spokeswoman Monique O'Connor said the company was prepared to deal with the same amount of waste again, but it was unclear how much more would be washed from the ship.

"A lot of that depends on what's happening on board, which depends on what's happening with weather conditions. It's in the lap of the gods really.

"The clean-up is very much an ongoing operation. Initially it focused on the western Bay of Plenty because debris was focused nearer the Rena but it's now a far greater area, it's spread far to the north and south.

"We have vessels and people working constantly targeting different areas at different times."

One of the aims this week was to recover containers holding timber which had washed up at two secluded beaches north of Waihi Beach, she said.