Now Nelson City Council recycling is back to normal, it’s time to look again at upcoming changes to plastic recycling.
Now Nelson City Council recycling is back to normal, it’s time to look again at upcoming changes to plastic recycling.
From 1 July, our kerbside recycling collection service will only accept plastic types 1,2 and 5. To make sure you have recyclable plastic remember to look out for a triangle with a number in it on the bottom of plastic packaging.
Plastics 3, 4, 6 and 7 are not recyclable in New Zealand. While there are still some limited overseas markets for these plastics, we are concerned they could in fact end up in the world’s oceans and rivers.
As a responsible Council we have decided that we cannot in good conscience send these plastics overseas to potentially end up as someone else’s rubbish.
The good news is that plastic types 1,2 and 5 make up 85% of the plastic that New Zealander’s buy, so we are still recycling the vast majority of plastic waste in Nelson.
To avoid plastic going to landfill, the best answer is to reduce rather than recycle.
Nelson City Council has already written to supermarkets and local retailers, asking them to phase out plastics that can’t be recycled in New Zealand.
As a community, we also need to do as much as we can to reduce the demand for products that use non-recyclable plastic. Reducing the amount of plastic we buy can be challenging, but every little effort helps.
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