Council to stop collecting plastics grades 3, 4, 6 and 7
Plastic grades 3, 4, 6 and 7 will no longer be collected as part of Waipā District Council’s kerbside recycling service.
The change, approved by councillors at today’s Service Delivery committee meeting, was prompted by export markets no longer taking these plastic types as they are a lower-value plastic, frequently contaminated and are harder to recycle and make into new products.
Plastics graded 1, 2 and 5 will continue to be collected in the yellow mixed recycling along with tin cans, paper and cardboard. The glass collection in the blue bin remains the same.
Waipā District Council transportation manager Bryan Hudson said, plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 are no longer readily recyclable and currently have a negative market value, meaning Council are paying to send these materials to landfill.
He said Waipā residents should stop placing plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 in their kerbside recycling bins and dispose of these plastics in their general waste instead.
These types of plastics include ice cream containers, yoghurt pots and takeaway containers.
“There is no longer a market for these kinds of plastics, so we have nowhere to send them. They are very hard to recycle and have very little value. However, there will be little change on the cost to Waipā ratepayers because plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 have little value,” he said.
“We have found that because we take such a wide range of plastics, people give little consideration to what is truly recyclable. Our aim is to try and promote waste reduction, and ensure all recycling we collect can be sold onto the market.”
He said unlike plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7, plastics 1, 2 and 5, such as milk bottles and soft drink bottles are valuable because there are high volumes of these materials and they are easily recycled and turned into other useful products.
Council’s recycling contractor will be resuming bin inspections – when safe – to check for contamination and to confirm Council’s community education programme around recycled plastics is working.
“It is very important residents put the correct items in the recycling in order not to contaminate good recycling material. When we get high levels of contamination, it compromises the health and safety of the contractor’s staff, who have to physically sort through the contaminated material,” Hudson said.
At the committee meeting, councillors were also informed of an oversupply in the market of cardboard and paper.
“There is presently not enough demand for these materials and unfortunately they are too bulky to store and could become a fire risk. We could end up having to send these to landfill until there is demand again, however, we are looking into all options to avoid this.”
Waipā District Council will join Tauranga City Council, Hutt City Council and Nelson City Council in a similar change to recycling collection, with other councils likely to soon follow suit.
An information campaign will get underway next month to help residents understand the changes.
For more information on recycling in Waipā, head to www.waipadc.govt.nz/recycling.