Supporting locals at NPDC Rural Transfer Stations

RecyclingEducationZero Waste
Written By Elric Aublant

Throughout May, Sustainable Taranaki Zero Waste Educators from The Junction Zero Waste Hub were busy supporting locals to get it right at NPDC Rural Transfer Stations - Waitara, Inglewood & Ōkato. They gave people a hand unloading their recycling and offered advice on what can and cannot be recycled.  It was a pleasure to support Waste Management NZ staff who operate these transfer stations and do their best to help locals who are trying to responsibly dispose of their waste. 

Following up a few months later, in July, the team turned their attention to the Recycling Drop-Off at the Junction Zero Waste Hub in Ngāmotu/New Plymouth. The majority of people were getting it right! On their first attempt, after 3-hours of engagement, they diverted 10kgs of contaminated material - soft plastics, bottle & container lids and other non-recyclables (mostly stuff that hadn’t been cleaned). The team were stoked to see so many people making the effort to recycle! However, when they showed up the next day, someone had contaminated a mixed recycling bin at the drop-off with soft-plastic packaging. Soft plastic jams the sorting machines in the ENVIRONZ operated Material Recovery Facility - it cannot be recycled through kerbside collection or the recycling drop-off at the Junction Zero Waste Hub.  In Taranaki, CLEAN & DRY soft-plastic packaging can be recycled through ’Woolworths Supermarkets’.  Look for the drop-off point next time you visit the supermarket!  

The education team were back at the Recycling Drop-Off in August. After engaging with over 60 people, they prevented approximately 5kgs of contaminated material from going into the recycling! Shout out to the team at Waitara Foodbank - Pataka Kai who dropped off a 100% contamination-free load of recycling!!! Everything was clean, there were no soft plastics and NO LIDS!!!!!! Sadly, the team also caught a couple of people trying to dispose of their RUBBISH in the RECYCLING DROP-OFF instead of paying ENVIRONZ to dispose of it responsibly through the Transfer Station.  Remember that the local council can fine people up to $400 dollars for fly-tipping! It is much cheaper to just pay for the waste you create or avoid making it in the first place!  Check out what got dumped on our maunga! We encourage you to report this type of behaviour to your local council ASAP!!! 

Some of you might be wondering... “why are lids from bottles and containers such a big deal when it comes to recycling in Aotearoa / New Zealand?” 

Here are the reasons why you can’t put your bottle or flat container lids in the recycling  

  • Bottle lids fall through the screening machines and can get stuck in the machinery. 

  • The dye in a bottle lid (milk bottles, for instance) can bleed into other coloured plastics and ruin the appearance of the recycled product. 

  • Container lids are light and flat, just like paper/cardboard packaging and due to automation are often mistakenly sorted with the paper & cardboard.  

  • But the biggest issue is if a lid is still on a bottle or container then something dangerous or gross could still be inside it and that is a danger to the health and safety of the workers!  

The Junction - Zero Waste Hub collects clean milk bottle tops! In South Taranaki, Egmont Refuse & Recycling Ltd can collect them. 

...so, NOPE! No bottle or container lids in the recycling bin PLEASE!  

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Elric Aublant
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