Make these five easy switches to be a more savvy recycler
Were you disturbed to learn that only plastics 1, 2 and 5 can be recycled though New Zealands kerbside bins? Take a moment when next at the supermarket to check the bottoms of containers. Youll find a surprising number of common products fall outside the range. The simplest way to stop a large amount of your grocery shop packaging going to landfill starts with what you choose to buy, says recycling and waste educator Kate Meads. Look for comparable products packaged in paper rather than plastic. Here are five common products and possible product swaps Meads suggests you could try. 1. Yogurt The packaging options in yogurt are a prime example of finding the same product, and even the same brand, packaged in different materials. Be aware what plastic your yogurt is in, says Meads. Often, the bigger pots are a safer bet, as the multipacks are generally packaged in number 6 plastic and not able to be recycled through the kerbside bins. 2. Flavoured milk People often reach for the six packs of flavoured milk for kids lunches, but unfortunately these are packaged in liquid paperboard boxes. This is a packaging that cannot be recycled kerbside in New Zealand. Even though it looks like paper it is a multi-layered product. The plastic bottles you might find Primo in, are recyclable, and can be found in different sizes, says Meads. If there is a sleeve of soft plastic around a bottle which are easy to remove, it should be taken off before recycling. A cost-effective alternative to flavoured milk can be regular milk and tins of flavour. 3. Alternative milks Plant-based milks such as oat, almond and coconut are often picked as a sustainable choice compared to dairy, due to their lighter impact with water and land use, as well as lower climate emissions. Boring and Milk 2.0 are examples of locally-manufactured plant milks available in recyclable plastic or glass bottles. Some other plant milk brands are packaged in hard-to-recycle materials such as liquid paperboard. Liquid paperboard is made using a combination of paper and plastic which allows containers to hold liquid without leaking. You might see a recycling triangle symbol and a number , or even the message Please recycle me, but liquid paper board cannot be recycled in most kerbside bins in New Zealand, says Meads. From February 2024, the government will standardise the materials which councils can accept in their recycling collections. With the standardisation they will be ruled of all kerbside recycling nationwide. You can definitely find high quality alternative milk in number 1, 2, or 5 plastics or even better, glass! says Meads. 4. Ice cream The traditional 2L ice cream containers are often number 1, 2 or 5 plastics and can be recycled. Make sure you check your go-to brand. The more modern paper-feeling tubs sometimes used for premium ice cream brands, are unfortunately not recyclable kerbside, even though they might look like it, says Meads. Sauces Sauces are a minefield, says Meads, as some bottles that look very similar can be completely different plastic types. Recently I found a bottle that was a number 2, and an identical looking bottle from a competing brand was in a number 4, she says. Meads says sauces are very much a case of checking what you typically buy, and if its not in a 1, 2 or 5, then hunt around for a similar product that is. Even better, some sauces can be swapped out for a brand that comes packaged in glass. If you currently buy the soft plastic refill pouches , an easy swap is to buy sauce in tins. The tins are easily recycled through your kerbside bin once they are clean and dry. Another easy switch Meads suggests, is to buy cooked lentils in tins rather than dried and in plastic packets. Best of all, she recommends buying tinned chickpeas and making your own hummus. It saves you money, avoids non-recyclable containers and tastes way better than the shop-bought versions.