1000 homes have welcomed the addition of kerbside soft plastic recycling which began on Thursday.
Homes along a selected route of 140 Nelson streets were offered the chance to be the first in the country to trial the kerbside collection, funded and organised by Packaging Forum.
Chief executive Rob Langford said Nelsonians took just three days to snap up the 1000 spots on offer, with many more continuing to apply.
“We had to shut down the website and say, ‘sorry no more’,” he says.
Participating homes have each been sent 20 bright orange bags, which is expected to last them six months, although more can be ordered if needed.
Bags can be filled with clean, dry soft plastics including chip packets, muesli bar wrappers, cling wrap, bread bags, and basically any plastic that can be scrunched up, but not compostable wrap.
“Make sure you clean it dry. Don’t just shove it in there. Get the breadcrumbs out,” Rob says.
Full bags are then placed in the blue glass recycling bins and put on the kerbside the day after glass collection. Enviro NZ will collect the bags on separate collection trucks from council’s kerbside collection materials, bale the soft plastic at their Stoke site, and deliver to Future Post in Blenheim to be recycled into fence posts for local vineyards and farms, as well as garden beds.
Rob says the last audit of soft plastic recycling through supermarket collections showed between 95-96 per cent quality – meaning the plastics are clean, dry, and the correct type of material, a far higher quality than kerbside recycling bins.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith, whose household is taking part in the trial, urged his fellow participants to fill their orange bag with soft plastics and put it kerbside in their blue glass crate on collection day.
“This step up to a kerbside recycling service has the advantage of being much more convenient than taking soft plastics to a recycling bin in a store. My hope is that we can make a success of this 1,000-home trial so a kerbside collection service can be expanded throughout Nelson and then New Zealand.”
Rob says these types of trials are starting to emerge in other parts of the world including the UK and Australia, but here in New Zealand, regulation means there are still limitations.
“We want to compare our performance with those to ensure that we’re getting as good, if not higher, quantities, and quality.
“Ideally, we want to show that there is a volume that is worth considering, that’s viable to collect through this trial, and then utilize that information to help look at what is best practice and compared to the rest of the world.”
Rob says it’s important for consumers to also think about their choices when purchasing products.
“If you really believe in recycling and doing the right thing, always think, ‘are you buying something that is made from recycled material’. So, it’s one thing to put it in the bin and feel good about putting your plastic out there. But you know, if you need a new garden bed or you’ve got some fencing, why not consider the material that you put on your kerbside becoming part of your garden or fence? So that helps close the circular loop in the circular economy.”
He says they will also look at whether the uptake affects what is taken to the supermarket, which is a well utilised system.
“The uptake was really good,” Rob says of the local community jumping into the six-month trial.
“The bit we’re now interested in is that uptake and does it convert to quantity and quality. Is it incremental increase or is a transfer of material?”
And obviously, the economics of kerbside collection vs supermarket drop-off points and whether the collection is economically viable at scale.
“Please keep using the supermarket system if that’s most convenient to you or you’re not in the trial.”
Go here for more information on the kerbside collection trial, and what can and can’t be placed in the trial bags.
