​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Alert

2022 Local Election – it’s time to Vote!

Once your voting papers have arrived in your mailbox, you can cast your vote. Post your votes in a Vote ballot box before 12noon on 8 Oct or in a NZ Post box by 5pm on 4 Oct. Learn more here >

Contact

Search

FAQs - Plastics 3,4,6 & 7 no longer recycled.

Plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 are no longer being recycled due to lack of onshore recycling infrastructure. What does this mean for the way I use my kerbside recycling bin?

There will be no change to the way you use your kerbside recycling bin in Rotorua. Plastics 3, 4, 6, and 7 will now be separated from the recycling stream when they are sorted at Material Recovery Facilities. So you can continue to put clean, dry, uncontaminated plastics numbered 1 - 7 in your yellow lid recycling bin and keep using your red bin for general household waste.

The total weight of plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 accounts for 1 - 2% of total recyclables collected in Rotorua's kerbside recycling service. The amount of these plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 collected by council's rubbish services is expected to decrease further over time, due to product manufacturers using less of these plastics.

Plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7, along with contaminated recyclables, will either be sent to landfill from the Materials Recovery Facilities, or a small amount may be used by innovative companies such as Future Post.

Items that you can put in your yellow lid recycling bin for Council's kerbside service

Items that you can put in your red lid rubbish bin for council's kerbside service

What items are made from plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7?

Plastic number 3 (also known as PVC), is used in some bottles (not soft drink bottles) and cosmetic containers.

Plastic number 4 (LDPE), is commonly used in squeeze bottles and rubbish bins.

Plastic number 6 (otherwise known as PS), is commonly found in plastic cutlery, video cases and safety helmets.

Plastic number 7 includes appliance parts, water cooler bottles and some medical devices.

You can find more examples of these items at recycle.co.nz

How do I tell what kind of plastic items are made of?

You can often see the type of plastic an item is made from by reading the number on the inside of the triangle symbol, often found embossed at the bottom of the container.

What percentage of Rotorua's recyclable items are plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7?

On average, these plastics comprise of only 1-2 % (based on weight) of total recyclables collected in Rotorua's kerbside recycling service.

Companies are using these materials less due to their low recyclable value, meaning they are harder to recycle. This also contributes to the low amount of these plastics in refuse streams.

Why are plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 no longer being recycled at the Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) that serve Rotorua? Where are they going?

These plastics are no longer being recycled at some MRFs due to a combination of:

  • the low volume of these materials collected from around New Zealand (compared to other countries)
  • New Zealand's distance from overseas export markets
  • the overseas plastic markets already being over-supplied by other countries that collect much larger volumes of these materials
  • lack of onshore processing facilities.

Many companies and plastic packaging industries are moving toward using plastics 1 and 2, because of their higher recyclable value and cost effectiveness. Easy-to-recycle plastics (for example plastics 1, 2 and 5) are worth more than harder-to-recycle plastics (for example 3, 4, 6 and 7). Most food packaging in supermarkets is now made of plastics 1 and 2, and it is now very uncommon to see food packaged in plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7. For example, plastic 1 (PET) has completely replaced plastic 6 (polystyrene) in meat packaging.

According to the WasteMinz 2020 report on plastic recycling in New Zealand, "The reason for this is plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 are more difficult to recycle into other products, which affects the value of these materials in international commodity markets. These plastics baled on their own currently have a negative market value." [page 5]

This means the majority of plastic 3, 4, 6 and 7 products will go to landfill, (except for a small amount used by innovative start-ups) until there is new recycling infrastructure available in New Zealand to support their recycling or development into other items.

In Rotorua, the majority of costs associated with recycling, such as kerbside collection and transportation, are paid for with the waste collection service rates charges. A very small amount of these total costs are able to be offset by on-selling plastics 1, 2 and 5.

What does a "higher recyclable value" mean?

An item with a higher recyclable value is easier and more cost-effective to recycle and sells for a higher price compared to an item with a low recyclable value.

The WasteMinz 2020 report on plastic recycling in New Zealand states, "Bottles made from plastics 1 and 2 are widely accepted in kerbside recycling because there are high volumes of these materials and they are easily recycled and turned into other useful products, both in Aotearoa New Zealand and offshore. If the plastic is of high quality, it can be recycled back into the same product e.g. plastic drink bottles can be recycled back into plastic drink bottles. Plastics 1 and 2 can be recycled an estimated six to seven times before no longer being recyclable." [page 5]

When did this change come into effect?

Materials Recovery Facilities across New Zealand have been slowly phasing out the acceptance of plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 in recycling streams since early 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic further increased pressure on the recycling processes of these plastics due to restrictions on importing and exporting.

For Rotorua, these changes came into effect after recycling services resumed in June, during COVID-19 Alert Level 2.

Following the lowering of COVID-19 Alert Levels, Council worked with stakeholders to integrate these changes and formed a plan to inform the public, during July.

How does plastic recycling work in the Rotorua district?

All clean, recyclable materials are collected from residents' yellow-lidded bins each fortnight and taken to a Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF).

MRFs sort the recyclable items into different material streams, remove any contaminated items and bale the different plastics separately for processing at an onshore recycling facility.

Contaminated items cannot be recycled which is why it is important for all recyclable materials to be clean before they are put in your recycling bin.

[Picture of baled plastics]

New Zealand has limited infrastructure to recycle plastics 3, 4, 6, 7. Prior to 2018, these plastics were shipped overseas to offshore companies for resource recovery or recycling. However, changes in the demand of these plastics in overseas markets, combined with the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments from the United Nations Environment Programme that now prevents overseas trading in contaminated plastics, meant that it was more difficult to sell these materials to international markets where there is more infrastructure to support the recycling process.

New Zealand has recycling processing plants that can recycle paper, glass, aluminium, tin, and plastics 1, 2 and 5.

How can I use my influence as a consumer to encourage industry to move toward using plastics 1, 2 and 5, which are more easily recyclable?

Buying fewer products made from plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 is the best way you can affect change. Avoidance is the always the most effective way to minimise waste in the waste hierarchy. Avoiding having the plastic in the first place, means you do not have to dispose of it once you are finished using it.

Reducing your use of these plastic items is the second most effective way to minimise your waste output. Using the item less, where possible, means that you are throwing less of it away.

Will plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 ever be able to be recycled in NZ?

Ever since international plastic trade was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, several companies are trying to create on-shore plastic recycling solutions in New Zealand. For example, Future Post is turning waste plastics in fence posts. However, the current scale of these operations does not yet deal with the volume of plastic waste generated in NZ.

On 1 July 2020, Central government announced $124 million funding for the waste sector in New Zealand. Part of the funding will be used to create new plastic recycling infrastructure and community resource recovery facilities in New Zealand.

More information:

The Truth about Plastic Recycling in Aotearoa New Zealand - WasteMinz

What each plastic material is made of, and its uses - Recycle.co.nz.

The Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments from the United Nations Environment Programme

Share this

Share this page

Sharing...