Recycling goes from hero to zero as China's plastic ban hits

Friday, 27 July 2018

A plastic ban in China is hitting Marlborough's recycling efforts in the pocket.

An overseas ban on dirty plastics has caused tonnes of Marlborough's recycling to be worth 'virtually zero', the region's recycling boss says.

Marlborough District Council solid waste manager Alec McNeil said countries across the globe had started muscling in on Marlborough's plastic buyers, such as Hong Kong and Singapore, now that China had put its foot down.

China announced earlier this year it would no longer accept many different types of waste, including all plastics, because of contamination problems.

Marlborough District Council solid waste manager Alec McNeil with some plastic waste, now worth next to nothing.

The move meant the likes of Hong Kong and Singapore had become overrun with suppliers almost overnight, giving them all the bargaining chips.

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Plastic, previously sent to recycling centres in China, is being sent to other countries, such as Thailand (pictured).

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WasteMINZ chief executive Paul Evans says the sudden shift is a 'good wake-up call' for New Zealand.

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WasteMINZ chief executive Paul Evans said those places could essentially say 'we will take it off your hands, but we won't pay you a premium', and Marlborough could do nothing about it.

St Mary's School students with recyclables, including plastic milk bottles, earlier this year.

Marlborough exported about 400 tonnes of plastic waste to other countries every year.

'The value of plastic recyclables has fluctuated in the past, but this is more sustained,' McNeil said.

Alec McNeil at the Bluegums Landfill, near Blenheim, where plastic waste could end up in future.

'Its market value has dropped to a lower level and stayed there.'

Marlborough's continued plastic waste recycling could see a budget loss of up to $40,000 this year, with the hit shared between the council and its contractors.

This was despite other recyclable waste, such as cardboard, paper, cans and glass, still getting a reasonable price.

But recycling was still cheaper than sending Marlborough's plastic waste to landfill, which would cost the council just over $45,000 a year, McNeil said.

To keep Marlborough's Resource Centre up and running, McNeil asked the council's assets and services committee last week for $10,000 this year, possibly rolling on in future if recycled plastic continued to be worthless.

While Marlborough was not looking to landfill at present, it could not rule out landfilling plastics in future.

'At the moment, we're set to recycling and focused on not disrupting the system at the front end,' McNeil said.

'Marlborough will get through this. We have good quality recycling, with little contamination.'

McNeil recommended Marlburians cut back on their plastic use in the short-term.

'People need to rethink their mindset and try to avoid plastics,' McNeil said.

Evans said the sudden shift was a 'good wake-up call' for New Zealand.

'We send our recycling to other countries and outsource our problem,' Evans said.

'This is a good opportunity for us to say, 'how can we do recycling better?''

The $10,000 funding request was approved by the assets and services committee, but still had to be adopted by full council on August 9.

What's in our landfill (tonnes)?

Fish waste - 16

Litter - 169

Grass - 926

Sawdust - 1282

Asbestos - 1787

Liquid Waste - 3296

Contaminated soil - 3820

Mussel shells - 3837

Sludge/animal waste - 10,585