Where Does Aotearoa’s Recycling Go?
When it comes to Recycling, us kiwi’s would love to think we are upholding the clean, green identity Aotearoa is so famed for. Unfortunately, the results of a recent Consumer NZ led assessment revealed that New Zealand is pretty low on the environmental leader board. In April this year, nine nations (including NZ) examined the recyclability of popular product packaging consumed by each population. Consumer NZ took part alongside organisations in Australia, Brazil, France, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Portugal and the United Kingdom. In total, the consumer organisations responsible for this assessment are thought to represent around 1.8 billion people. Brazil and New Zealand proved to be the worst countries for practical recycling rates; around 57% of our packaging did not get recycled, while Brazil was unable to process about 92% of its recycling. The country with the best recycling rate was Hong Kong, closely followed by Portugal.
The Packaging Council of NZ has revealed that kiwis consume around 735 thousand tonnes of packaging every year, with only 58% hitting the recycling bin. Between January 2018 and March 2021, New Zealand exported over 98,000 tonnes of plastic waste. This waste goes offshore, mainly to Thailand and Malaysia. Our Environment Minister, David Parker recently claimed that the Government will be significantly investing in recycling infrastructure; including the adoption of better practices when it comes to what is being sent offshore. "Last year we consulted on proposals to phase out problematic hard-to-recycle plastics and single-use plastic items," the statement said, "Decisions on the proposed phase-outs are under consideration and we expect announcements will be made soon."
The global plastic waste trade took a hit in 2018, when China tapped out of the game. This led to a massive spike in illegal and toxic recycling dumpsites in under-developed communities around Malaysia and Thailand. High-income countries like New Zealand offload their plastic waste overseas. Our pollution problem becomes out of sight, out of mind. Unfortunately, this waste is often dumped, burned or ‘processed’ in unregulated ways; resulting in water, soil and air pollution. The toxins leached during this process have disastrous effects on the local communities. It has been noted that cancer rates in these underdeveloped areas are increasing and the overall health of people living in surrounding communities has been on a steady decline.
There are many brave activists speaking up about the damage being done to their communities, working alongside Greenpeace in an attempt to halt the import of harmful waste. Lay Peng Pua, is a notable activist whose work has seen her grassroots environmental group gain international attention. Her organisation, Persatuan Tindakan Alam Sekitar Kuala Langat, received the International Human Rights Day’s KLSCAH Civil Society Award 2019 in Malaysia.
There are massive ethical concerns when it comes to offloading our waste to more impoverished countries and at Res.Awesome we believe Aotearoa should be doing everything we can to reduce and regulate the amount of plastic waste being produced.
How to help
Avoid products that have mixed material packaging
If you must, choose products with clear, sleeveless packaging
Let manufacturers know you want to see a change! Vote with your dollar and choose more sustainable products or write an email to the manufacturer/brand! Be a squeaky wheel!
Check-in with your local council to see what recycling initiatives are up and running in your area
Ok, now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty! What kind of products can be recycled; where, who and how!?
Soft Plastic
There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding soft plastic, so we thought we would clear some things up. Although it is possible to recycle soft plastics here in New Zealand, collection points are quite sparse. Currently we have collection points in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Wellington and Christchurch. The Packing Group has estimated that Aotearoa only has the capacity to recycle around 700 tonnes of soft plastic over the next year. And this kind of plastic is quite hard to process while being very prevalent in our communities. Plastic bags and food wrap are the most common forms of soft plastic. Bread bags, bubble wrap, plastic wrappers of products such as biscuits, chips etc are other examples of soft plastic. It is important to check the packaging you donate to these schemes as compostable bags, heavy foiled bags (some chip packets), pvc plastic wrap or packaging that has been contaminated with food or liquid cannot be accepted.
The Packaging Forum is doing its best to gather up all of Aotearoa’s soft plastic waste and put it to good use. They have partnered up with Future Post who blend soft plastics with other materials to manufacture plastic fence posts, buckets and parking bumpers here in New Zealand. Ducting and other products are also created by a smaller Levin based company, Second Life Plastics. Unfortunately, there are very minimal soft plastic processors in the South Island and long range environmental testing has not been carried out to know the effects of these products or their stability long term.
Recycling 101
All plastics numbered 1-7 are accepted for recycling, excluding polystyrene and meat trays, but how they get to be recycled is another story; we can only put Plastics 1, 2 + 5 in our domestic recycling bins.
Some of New Zealand’s recycling is done here as well as Asia and Australia
Cardboard and glass are generally converted into new products here in NZ
Plastic, paper and metal are sent overseas for re-manufacture
Under Section 23(1)(b) of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008, plastics will be gradually phased out. Some items we can kiss goodbye to are: PVC meat trays, Polystyrene packaging, EPS grocery packaging, oxo-degradable and photo-degradable plastics, plastic drink mixers, plastic cotton buds
The recyclability of a product depends on how it is made; plastics that have been thermoset contain polymers that have formed irreversible chemical bonds - therefore cannot be recycled. Thermoplastics can be re-melted and re-molded to create a new product.
Recycling Resources
Glass is sorted and sent to VISY Recycling in Auckland to be re-made into bottles. Read more about what these guys are up to here
Batteries are sorted out by Cargill Enterprises who run a box system out of Green Island and ensure batteries are recycled safely. This is particularly important as batteries have the potential to explode if disposed of in your general waste or leach toxins into our landfills. A major issue with batteries is there are no companies capable of recycling them here in New Zealand – they have to be shipped overseas, often to Australia or Japan. An estimated 0.2% of household batteries purchased across the country are recovered and re-processed to make new products, according to a 2013 report. Read more about how Dunedin is tackling it’s E-Waste problem here
Metals: all processed in New Zealand
Non-leaded glass: processed in New Zealand
Printer and computer plastic: sorted into polymer type, granulated and then exported to Malaysia (although HIPS from cartridges and maybe printers may be processed in China)
PCBs: go to Japan
CRT and flat-screen monitors: go to Abilities group in Auckland.
Tyres are one of the priority products to be focussed on in the Govt’s new Waste
Polystyrene can be taken to Mitre 10 or Expol
Clean plant pots - Mitre 10
The Warehouse accept soft plastics, along with some Countdown & New World supermarkets
Tetrapaks can be posted to Terracycle - this kind of packaging should be avoided though as it has ghastly effects on our environment at all stages of its life cycle!
Head to WasteMinz website for some free downloads to help sort your waste out!
E-waste recycling in NZ is done by:
● E-cycle
● University Tech Centre (for still functioning but no longer necessary stuff)
● Recycle A Device - Dunedin laptop recycling. We recently dedicated a blog post to the RAD superstars, check it out here
● TechCollect @ Noel Leeming (FREE) All products recovered for recycling through the TechCollect NZ pilot program undergo first stage recycling activities, including dismantling and shredding, in New Zealand. Once first stage recycling activities are performed to recover commodities (e.g. metals, plastic, glass, PCBs), some commodities are processed into new products within New Zealand.
Let’s keep Aotearoa clean, green and beautiful!
xx
If you want to learn more join our Waste Warrior + Recycling Workshop, run every 2 months online. The next date is Feb 16th 7pm. Tickets are $11 and you can bring your whole household along for the ride. Let’s learn together!
More Info: Waste Warrior + Recycling Workshop
Researched + Written by Erin Cox
Edited by Fi Clements