Where has my soft plastic collection point gone? And what I can do about it.
Walk into many supermarkets in New Zealand, and youll find a soft plastic recycling bin in the corner. Or maybe not. Many of us are getting into the habit of dropping off our clean soft plastics for recycling. But its frustrating to arrive with our bag of plastics and the designated bin has disappeared. And then not all supermarkets have them. Whats going on? READ MORE: * Waste-to-energy plants are 'yesterdays technology', researchers say on Waimate proposal * NZ recycling, food waste to get an overhaul * What changes are coming to tackle New Zealand's waste problem? There can be many reasons why a soft plastic recycling bin may be temporarily removed, says Lyn Mayes, Soft Plastic Recycling (SPR) scheme manager. Theres a vast network required to run the recycling scheme, and sometimes small logistical issues crop up. Meanwhile, the numbers suggest what can be achieved. Out of 90 Warehouse stores, 39 collect soft plastics. In the FY 2022 their programme collected 63.5 tonnes of soft plastics. Thats the equivalent to 10.5 million pieces diverted from landfill. The soft plastic recycling system relies on overcoming multiple challenges. Not every supermarket is onboard. Countdown has more than 100 stores participating nationally, followed by New World, Pak'nSave, Huckleberry and others. Of all Aucklands Pak'nSave stores, only Mangere, Albert, Royal Oak, Glen Innes currently participate in the scheme. Some supermarkets, like Airport Oaks Countdown and Pak'nSave Albany, had collection bins only to remove them later. No bins at your local supermarket? Customers can ask for bins to be provided or choose to shop at stores where they are. Public holidays can delay collections. Stores are collecting large numbers of bags every week and space may be an issue, says Mayes. To avoid overfilling and potential contamination, supermarkets may remove the bin for a short period of time. Cyclone Gabrielle led to transportation delays in some regions to road closures and supermarkets focusing on providing essential services to their communities, says Mayes. Despite some ongoing roading issues on the whole it is now business as usual for those regions in which there is a collection service. In Dunedin, operations were suspended in November while a baler, resource to bale and a new space to store bales is found. Not sure if its a soft plastic? An easy test is to try scrunching it into a ball in your hands, says Kiwi waste educator, Kate Meads, who suggests heading to recycling.kiwi.nz for what you can and cant include, and locations of collection bins near you. Make the effort to recycle properly, says Meads. Do a bit of research: if it is soft plastic it cant go into the kerbside recycling bin. It needs to be collected and taken to a soft plastics drop-off point. What ever you do, dont drop your banana skins or coffee cups in supermarket soft plastics collection bins. This rubbish is an unwanted extra challenge. The contamination is not from consumers who have collected their soft plastics at home and made the effort to drop it off for recycling, says Mayes. This is people walking past the bin and putting drinks bottles, coffee cups, fast food containers, and even nappies into the soft plastic recycling bin, Contamination can have a major impact on processors, as metal objects can damage the processing plant. Solutions have involved placing a rubbish bin near the soft plastic recycling bin, moving the bin from the front door or putting a lid on the bins. Bins were temporarily removed from New Plymouth while a logistical issue was resolved. Soft plastic collection has since resumed. In some cases, such as in Taranaki, stores we had no option but to remove the bins while we find a solution, says Mayes. Overall contamination levels are low only 4.2% by weight was either not soft plastic or contaminated by food or liquid, at the last SPR audit. Mayes says stores and collectors are working hard to make sure contaminated bags dont go through the system.