The impact of changes to global recycling markets has had a flow-on effect on many cities around the world. Some have had to stockpile recycling or landfill material or find alternative markets with low market price for the recyclables.
“We’ve got our recycled materials covered at the moment,” says Barry Potter, Director Infrastructure and Environmental Services.
Auckland Council is responsible for much of the region’s kerbside (residential) rubbish collection, including approximately 135,000 tonnes of recycling collected via the council’s co-mingled services.
“Recycling is collected from the kerbside and processed at the Visy material recovery facility in Onehunga.
“Almost half of the material processed is paper and card (46 per cent) with glass coming a close second (36 per cent).
“Glass and aluminium/steel is recycled in New Zealand and the paper products and plastic waste are sold to off shore markets. Around 12 per cent of recycling collected is contamination – wrong items that have to be sent to landfill,” says Mr Potter.
The council’s contract with Visy has been running for ten years. Visy is responsible for the separation, marketing and sale of recyclables once delivered to the company’s gate by the collection trucks.
Changes to China’s recycling policy
China has been the global leading importer of recyclable materials. In January 2018, China implemented a policy setting tight contamination limits on imported recyclable material, which most of the industry cannot meet.
China’s change in policy has resulted in a global reduction in demand for mixed paper and plastic. As a result, prices for these products have dropped significantly. The long-term impacts of this on recycling markets are not yet clear.
“Visy has secured markets for our recyclables, primarily in Indonesia and Vietnam,” says Mr Potter.
“However there remain risks around reliance on other countries, particularly if they take a similar stance to China. For this reason countries like New Zealand must start to develop in-country solutions to dealing with all recyclables.”
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Auckland is committed to reaching zero-waste by 2040. While Aucklanders are already great recyclers, more can be done to reduce contamination in the bins by recycling right.
“We need to work on reducing the amount of wrong items being put in the recycling bins.
"Common items that contaminate our kerbside recycling bins are coffee cups, plastic bags, polystyrene trays, food, used nappies, clothing and footwear, and even carpet,” says General Manager Waste Solutions Parul Sood.
Recycling is a national issue
Managing recyclable materials is a national issue. The Ministry for the Environment and Local Government New Zealand advise that many councils are struggling to find viable markets for recyclable materials.
“It is increasingly recognised that New Zealand needs to develop onshore capacity to process its recovered recyclables.
“Council staff have been actively working with the Ministry for the Environment, private sector and other councils to identify onshore options for processing recyclable materials,” says Mr Potter.
Some councils have been stockpiling recyclables as a short-term alternative to landfilling. There is no stockpiling of recyclable material from Auckland Council’s kerbside collections and only contaminated material is sent to landfill.
“We do not want to get to the position where our recycling options are unsustainable and we need to consider sending recyclable materials to landfill – it is just not something our council is prepared to consider,” says Mr Potter.
Current contract negotiations
The council’s Finance and Performance Committee considered an item on Auckland Waste Services in September in the confidential section of the meeting due to the commercial sensitivity of the content.
Committee members received an update on the current state of recycling in the Auckland region – which they have been updated on frequently this year, in the context of the national and global focus on recycling market pressures.
The report contains a specific resolution that the report, resolutions and attachments remain confidential until all reasons for confidentiality no longer exist.
