Clampdown on New Zealand's waste sees Hutt council ditch certain plastics for recycling collection

Friday, 29 March 2019

​Overseas countries have stopped accepting New Zealand's waste which is forcing councils such as the Hutt City Council to make changes to its recycling collections.

Items such as medicine bottles, styrofoam, meat trays, bottle-caps, plastic containers – including take-away and plastic cutlery (plastic types 3 to 7), fall into the category that will no longer be accepted in kerbside recycling, or at the council's drop-off stations, from May.

The council has put the onus on the public saying it was up to them to decide how to reduce their waste before the changes came into effect.

Council sustainability and resilience manager Jorn Scherzer said the change was a result of reduced access to overseas processing and recycling markets, which formerly accepted New Zealand's waste.

**READ MORE:

* China's waste import ban makes recycling costly for NZ businesses

* Recycling not worth the extra $80 for Upper Hutt ratepayers

* Lower Hutt firm wants to recycle all New Zealand's plastic bottles

* Palmerston North pipe-maker recycling 25 tonnes of plastic a month in new partnership**

'The plastics market is diverse and complex and while there is still a demand for plastics classified as 1 and 2, there is little or no demand worldwide for most plastic types 3 to 7.'

Plastics coded as 1 are easily recycled including, fruit punnets and drink bottles, and plastics coded as 2 include items such as milk bottles and cleaning-product containers.  

China was the world's biggest importer of scrap waste but last year dramatically reduced the volume it imported. The cut meant countries, like New Zealand, have had to reconsider how they deal with the waste they sent offshore.

New Zealand has since sent plastic types 3 to 7 to Malaysia but, it had become increasingly difficult to find markets for those recyclables, Scherzer said.

The council collected 8000 tonnes of recyclable goods a year of which plastic types 3 to 7 made up about 4 per cent, or 320 tonnes, he added said.

None of the affected plastic types had gone to the landfill or been stockpiled to date. 

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET 1) plastic, which included fizzy-drink bottles, would continue to be processed and recycled by Flight Plastics in Lower Hutt. High-density polyethylene (HDPE 2), commonly used to manufacture milk and detergent bottles, would be sent to Palmerston North for processing.

The council's infrastructure general manager Bruce Sherlock said the Silverstream Landfill would have no trouble dealing with the extra rubbish if it was to be diverted to the facility.

'There's no issue at all. Silverstream Landfill takes in about 120,000 tonnes annually. I'd be surprised if [number 3 to 7 plastics totalled] more than a few-hundred tonnes. Pretty light stuff – no trouble at all.' 

Change of bags for Wellington 

Wellington City Council has introduced new transparent recycling bags which are recyclable alongside the contents intended to be put inside them. They replace the old green bags.

The bags will be delivered to 26,000 households over the coming months. As well as being recyclable, the bags will allow a collector to identify contamination inside the bag such as harmful items, or glass.

The bags will be processed in Malaysia and turned back into raw LDPE pellets, used to manufacture various containers, dispensing bottles, tubing, plastic bags for computer components, and laboratory equipment.