Large unwanted plastic items are being given a new life in a recycling trial underway in Auckland.
These include the likes of plastic laundry baskets, buckets, chairs, dishwashing racks, clamshell sandpits, rubbish bins and storage boxes.
General Manager Waste Solutions Parul Sood says that because these items cannot be put in the household kerbside recycling collection it is important that we find another way to recycle them - instead of ending up in landfill.
“We’re trialling recycling the large number 5 plastic items back into usable products – so your broken plastic laundry basket or chair could have a new life as a rubbish bin, bucket or storage container, or if they’re in good enough condition someone else might buy them and reuse them.”
The plastics can be dropped off at Community Recycling Centres (CRC’s) in Devonport, Helensville and Waiuku until the end of October. From here they are picked up by IP Plastics in Papakura, which manufactures large plastic items, and given a new life.
“The aim is to extend the trial to accept a wider range of number 5 polypropylene plastics as well as including collection at other CRC’s around Auckland,” Parul says.
“The long-term aim is to increase the number of products made from recycled plastics to contribute to building circular economies within Aotearoa. This initiative will also contribute towards achieving the council’s target of Zero Waste by 2040.”
Smaller number 5 plastics such as yoghurt pots, honey containers, medicine bottles, ice-cream containers etc should continue to be put into kerbside wheelie bins for collection. Plant pots cannot be accepted in this trial either as they are contaminated with soil.
