Our ratepayers and residents have embraced recycling but the amount of rubbish going to landfill remains static. This is being reported both nationally and globally, as there are issues with contamination when residents place incorrect items in recycling bins, or bag recyclables before placing them in bins which means machinery gets jammed.

Markets have also changed and many countries have found they are unable to export recyclables to traditional markets. China has closed their doors completely and many other countries have followed suit, or have signalled they will do so. Australia has declared they will no longer export recyclables and instead will deal with all waste onshore and will develop new infrastructure. The change in markets has not just affected the collection of plastic but also the collection of paper. Together, these two materials comprise an estimated 40-45% of all recyclables collected.

Many councils have already stopped collecting 3-7 plastics and now only collect plastics coded 1 and (such as milk and juice botles, shampoo, conditioner, hand and body wash bottles) including Napier, Far North, Hutt City, Upper Hutt, Hastings and Kapiti Coast. Plastics 1, 2 and 5 can be recycled within New Zealand and the Government is continuing to invest in infrastructure to recycle more materials onshore. (Not all districts in New Zealand are collecting 5s, such as Matamata-Piako, but this may change as we realise it's a high use plastic). For example, Flight Plastics in Lower Hutt received a $4 million grant from the Waste Minimisation Fund. Flight recycled 2,000 tonnes of PET (of the estimated 30,000 tonnes used annually) in 2018, but can increase its capacity to recycle all PET used in New Zealand. It turns the bottles and food containers into flake, which it in turn uses to make bottles and other products. Plastics coded 3, 6 and 7 have no local markets, and extremely limited markets globally. In many countries plastics coded 6 (Styrofoam) have been, or will be banned, along with other single use disposal products such as straws, and plastic cutlery.

Many of our neighbours in the Waikato Region are reviewing their services or implementing changes.