Top Ten Recycling Tips – No. 2: Lids can’t be recycled | Nelson City Council

From July 1, Nelson City Council will only collect plastic types 1, 2 and 5 for recycling. As we count down the days until the change we have worked on a series of top recycling tips to help you recycle in the best way possible. Here is our latest tip:

What should I do with my lids?

Anything lightweight like bottle tops (or lids of any kind) or plastic cutlery should go in the rubbish – even if it has a number it’s too light to get through the sorting centre and it can jam up equipment.

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. For the rest – reducing the plastic we buy is the best option. We’ve written to supermarkets and retailers asking them to phase out plastic that can’t be recycled in New Zealand, but why not take a moment to see if there are ways to avoid buying products packaged in plastic types 3,4,6 and 7.