http://www.3news.co.nz/environmentsci/recycling-programme-gives-new-life-for-soft-plastics-2015112510#axzz3sFBvtbto
Soft
plastics can now be recycled as part of a national programme to help
save 4.3 million plastic bags from ending up at the landfill.
The Soft Plastics Recycling Programme was officially
launched in Auckland this morning by Environment Minister Nick Smith
and is a joint venture between the government, retail and packaging
sectors.
Special bins have been installed at 70 New World,
Pak 'n Save, Countdown and The Warehouse stores in Auckland, with plans
to expand across other regions.
It’s the first programme to enable the recycling of
soft plastics such as shopping bags, bread bags, frozen food bags and
food wrap.
"The success of this venture depends on households
developing a culture of collecting soft plastics and depositing them in
the new drop-off facilities," says Dr Smith.
The programme will eventually spread to Hamilton,
Wellington, Canterbury, Otago, Bay of Plenty and Manawatu during its
three-year lifespan.
It aims to give 70 percent of Kiwis access to a recycle bin within a 20 kilometre drive.
Dr Smith says the recycling programme builds on the
kerbside recycling of glass, hard plastics and paper, which has become
standard among households.
Packaging Forum project manager Lyn Mayes says it is
important people know the bins are for all kinds of soft plastics, not
just shopping bags.
"Plastic
shopping bags are a discretionary item which you can take or leave, but
soft plastic packaging is required to protect and preserve many
products," she says.
“We are asking people to
collect their packaging at home and drop it into the Love NZ Soft
Plastics Recycling bins at their local participating stores when they
next go shopping, so we can recycle it."
The plastic will be processed, baled and sent to Australia, where it will be made into new products.
RED
Group, which runs the operational side of the programme, believes it
could take time for people to get into the habit of using the bins.
Director Liz Kasell says it will take at least 12 weeks for people to get used to putting things in the bins.
"We
can expect to see an average of six to eight bin liners full of plastic
bags and packaging per week per store once things get rolling,
equivalent to around 10,000 units of packaging," she says.
The programme is expected to stop around 3 million items of soft packaging from going to landfill across Auckland every month.
The
project has received $1.3 million in funding, including $700,000 from
the Government Waste Minimisation Fund, with the rest from retailers and
several brands.
Soft plastics you can recycle:
- Bread bags;
- Frozen food bags;
- Toilet paper packaging;
- Confectionery and biscuit wrap;
- Chip bags;
- Pasta and rice bags;
- Courier envelopes;
- Shopping bags and sanitary hygiene wrap;
- Anything made of plastic which can be scrunched into a ball.
3 News
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