'Soft plastics' recycling bins full of coffee and food are ruining recycling attempts

Thursday, 27 September 2018

The bins in supermarkets are clearly marked for soft plastic packaging.

Special bins at supermarkets designed for soft plastics recycling are becoming full of food and hot drinks.

It means attempts to recycle the plastic are futile, and it's taken to the landfill instead.

The Packaging Forum spokeswoman Lyn Mayes said they'd asked supermarkets to move the bins away from doorways, and the bins were clearly marked with 'no rubbish please'.

'In an ideal world, we wouldn't need that prompt, but we're trying to make it as easy as possible for people.'

Soft plastics recycling bins are becoming contaminated by coffee and canned drinks, meaning the recyclable plastic is being sent to landfill.

* 'Recyclable' meat trays aren't being recycled

* Aim for at least one less piece of plastic daily

Supermarkets have been asked to move the soft plastic bins away from doorways.

* Finding the treasure in trash: a Wellington collector's story**

But coffee cups, cans and food were still being dumped in the special bins, which were introduced in 2015.

Mayes said some bins were so contaminated that the collector had started to leave them at the supermarkets. 'We hope it will help the supermarkets to start checking the bins as well.'

Soft plastics already had no monetary value but if it was contaminated, it was unable to be used at all.

'They're labelled obviously for a reason. They're also see-through for a reason.'

The strangest thing she had found in one was a razor blade, she said. On Wednesday, they recovered someone's car keys.

A Countdown spokeswoman said they had a number of general rubbish bins available for customers in each store, but incorrect items were being thrown in to the soft plastics bins.

'While this is disappointing, the vast majority of our customers are using them correctly. The best way to ensure people knew what to do was continuing education,' she said. 'We are keen to keep supporting this.'

Foodstuffs spokeswoman Antoinette Laird said some people were putting the wrong waste in the bin, despite their best efforts to dissuade them.

'The bins carry clear signage instructing people about what should be going in and we're in the midst of relocating the bins away from store entrances to reduce littering.'

The soft plastic recycling scheme covers about 70 per cent of New Zealand.

Until this month, material in the bins in was being turned into park benches, bollards and playground equipment by an Australian company - but The Packaging Forum was now seeking a new market for it.

What can go in a soft plastics recycling bin?

* Carrier Bags• Bread, pasta & rice bags

* Fresh produce bags and net citrus bags

* Frozen food bags (frozen vegetable, fries, burgers, nuggets, poultry etc.)

* Confectionery wrap and lolly bags

* Dairy wrappers

* Plastic packaging around toilet paper, kitchen towels, nappies and sanitary products

* Courier packs, Newspaper and Magazine wrap

* Chocolate & muesli bar wrappers and biscuit packets (wrapper only)

* Chip packets, Ice cream wrappers

* Cereal box liners

* Recycle bubble wrap and large sheets of plastic that furniture comes wrapped in (cut into pieces the size of an A3 sheet of paper first)