Recycling your Stuff newspaper bag
Monday, 27 November 2017
Stuff is launching a series encouraging you to think twice about single-use plastic bags.
As part of this, we've addressed our own plastic footprint by becoming sponsors of a nationwide recycling programme to give our subscribers improved access to recycling our bags. We hope to have this available across most of the country within the next two years.
Here's what you need to know about recycling the plastic that Stuff - which owns Stuff and titles around the country such as The Press and The Dominion Post - uses to deliver our newspapers.
HOW CAN I RECYCLE MY NEWSPAPER/MAGAZINE BAGS?
Many council kerbside collections don't accept any soft plastics. The Love NZ Soft Plastics Programme is a new initiative where recycling bins have been placed in retail outlets so shoppers can take back their used soft plastic bags to supermarkets and retail premises.
The programme runs in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and across the South Island at Countdown, Pak 'n Save, New World, The Warehouse and Farro stores.
Stuff is a national sponsor of this programme. The programme currently provides a recycling solution for our subscribers in the South Island, and some parts of the North Island. There are plans to expand across the central North Island within the next two years. Find out how you can recycle your bags here.
To recycle your newspaper or magazine bag, you can take your dry, empty bags and drop them into the Love NZ Soft Plastics Recycling bins at participating stores. You can also recycle all soft plastic bags including bread bags, frozen food bags, toilet paper packaging, confectionery and biscuit wrap, chip bags, pasta and rice bags, courier envelopes, shopping bags, sanitary hygiene packaging - basically anything made of plastic which can be scrunched into a ball.
The plastic is then collected, sorted and sent to reprocessors in Australia to make new things, like outdoor furniture, decking and more recycling bins.
For further information on the programme, click here. For the areas covered by the scheme, click here.
WHY IS THE SOFT PLASTICS PROGRAMME NOT AVAILABLE IN MY AREA?
The programme has grown faster than predicted and it takes a lot of work to set up the necessary logistics to run the programme efficiently and sustainably. Therefore the programme is rolling out in stages around the country to ensure it works effectively in each region before the next is set up. The programme will grow in 2018 and aims to have access for over 85 per cent of our subscribers by the end of 2019.
WHY ARE YOUR NEWSPAPERS WRAPPED IN PLASTIC?
The plastic wrap protects the papers from the wrath of Mother Nature, meaning they can be thrown onto your driveway from a moving vehicle and land dry and intact for you to read and enjoy.
WHAT KIND OF PLASTIC IS IT?
The film used for our newspapers and magazines comes under the LDPE recycle code 4 and is 100 per cent recyclable. It is not biodegradable. Not all councils collect this kind of plastic with their roadside recycling scheme, therefore the soft plastics programme provides access to recycle this kind of material.
HOW MANY PLASTIC BAGS DO YOU PRODUCE?
On average, we wrap over 600,000 newspapers and approximately 39,000 magazines per week.
WHAT DOES YOUR SPONSORSHIP OF THE LOVE NZ SOFT PLASTICS PROGRAMME COVER?
Our sponsorship contributes towards helping run the collection, administration and processing service across New Zealand and, together with the other sponsors, maintain a sustainable recycling scheme.