2024 changes to kerbside collections
In March 2023, the Government announced that for the very first time there would be a consistent recycling service across the country. That means New Zealand now has the same recycling rules all the way from Cape Reinga to Bluff.
Having standard recycling rules aims to make it easier for people to use kerbside services and get recycling right. It will also increase the quality of the materials collected, by reducing the amount that is contaminated.
The good news is that Waipā was already mostly aligned with the new recycling list.
Here’s a snapshot of what we can no longer accept from 1st February 2024:
Aluminium foil or trays:
These are likely to be contaminated with food, and are a low value material to metal recyclers.
Aerosols (like fly spray or spray deodorant):
Due to their low value to metal recyclers and the potential danger to our staff (they could get popped in the collection process!).
Large plastics or metal cans:
Anything over 4 litres, like large water dispensers, or large olive oil tins, can’t be recycled kerbside. Contact the supplier to see if they accept these back in-store.
Lids:
Due to their small size, they fall through the sort line machinery and are unlikely to make it to their end destination of being made into a new item.
Some lids are made of mixed materials – like a metal outer and plastic liner - and sometimes the lid is a different type of plastic to the bottle or container. It is expected that this new rule will also reduce liquids like curdled milk ending up along the sort line, which is manned by our local team.
We are hoping there will be some industry-led community collections for these small items in the near future.
Small plastics or papers:
These are just too small to be sorted and baled. For containers, please don’t put anything smaller than a hummus pottle in your yellow wheelie bin (three-dimensional items smaller than 50mm at their widest point are not accepted), and when it comes to paper – nothing smaller than a Post-It note (two-dimensional items smaller than 100mm by 140mm are too small to be sorted and recycled).
Nothing else has changed for us in Waipā with our recycling - it’s still the same day, same time, same bins, same frequency.
Most of us are brilliant recyclers, so we hope you help us out by keeping lids, aerosols, tin foil and baking trays out of your kerbside recycling from 1st February 2024.