Kiwis create a wasteland over summer

Friday, 1 January 2016

Sustainable Coastlines CEO Sam Judd with a handful of tiny bits of plastic which proves to be very difficult to clean up.

Picnic baskets laden with packed food, new toys from Santa for the kids, a couple of magazines for mum and dad.

It's the beach kit that ensures an afternoon of sunny relaxation but our summertime habits create more waste than at any other time of year.

Lyn Mayes of The Packaging Forum says confusion over bin purposes adds to waste volumes.

Kiwis produce 30 per cent more waste over the summer holidays, and seaside spots cop the worst of it with a 400 per cent increase, according to The Packaging Forum.

The increase in rubbish stems from a combination of confusion over what can be recycled, more consumerism over Christmas, and seaside towns not having the capacity to deal with all the trash.

**READ MORE:

* [Beach litter bad for human psyche

](http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/70087610/Beach-litter-bad-for-the-environment-and-the-human-psyche)* Increase to littering fines proposed

* Businesses fund portaloos for Freedom Campers over mess fears**

A 2015 survey commissioned by the forum shows the majority of litter is packaging, and the biggest culprits are bottle tops, plastic bags and food wrappers.

Sustainable Coastlines general manager Camden Howitt says that when people are outside the comfort of their homes they don't think about alternatives to plastic packaging - such as Tupperware - or spend time finding a bin.

'It should be ingrained in us - it sort of shows that New Zealanders have a long way to go in terms of our environmental culture. I don't think we're quite there yet.'

He says people should take a 'grass roots' approach and take responsibility for their own rubbish. The approach is similar to one used in regional parks where some spots have a no-bin policy, forcing visitors to take their rubbish home.

Waitakere Ranges local board chair Sandra Coney says this policy works well for beaches bordering parks in West Auckland, such as Karekare and Cornwallis.

'People seem to adapt to it reasonably well,' she says.

To deal with the summer trash, neighbouring spots at Piha and Te Henga have increased their rubbish collections to three times a day. But Coney says visitors are often confused, and dump rubbish in recycling bins.

Packaging Forum member Lyn Mayes says confusion about which bin to use adds to the summertime waste.

In November, Mayes helped launch a pilot programme in Auckland where soft plastic used in packaging was diverted from landfills. So far, at least 4 tonnes have been sent to Australia for recycling.

The scheme will be introduced to Hamilton later this year, and Mayes says she hopes it will be expanded to about 70 per cent of the country by the end of its three-year trial.

'[Surveys show] 97 per cent of people have got access to kerbside recycling and drop-off centres, and the majority of people know what they can recycle,' she says.

'Where it gets confusing is the packaging that isn't recyclable in 100 per cent of areas.'

Coffee cups are a good example, as they can only be recycled in Auckland due to a lack of infrastructure elsewhere.

Funding for recycling and wastage in smaller regions depends on ratepayer numbers, so services in places such as Whangamata can be limited.

Locals in some areas, like Kaitaia, have resorted to cleaning up the beach themselves over the summer, clearing them of glass bottles and plastic nappies.

Warren Snow, a recycling consultant who helped introduce kerbside recycling, says Kiwis are 'hugely wasteful'.

'It's depressing. I think the biggest part of it is as we become more consumer-driven and somehow think by recycling a few bits and pieces at the end of the week we've done our bit and alleviated our conscience. But really the whole supply chain needs to change.'

**WHAT TO DO WITH LITTER

*** Soft plastics such as rubbish bags, chip packaging and bread bags can now be recycled in Auckland. Special bins for soft plastics have been placed at 70 grocery stores across the region.

* Plastic bottle tops and caps can be recycled if removed from the original packaging, but metal tops still can't be recycled.

* E-waste centres can recycle electronics. Better yet, get the devices fixed.

* Boxes, including pizza boxes, can be recycled but have to be kept separate to other recyclables and must be free of food.

* Some batteries can be recycled but only through regional repositories.

* Egg cartons, empty aerosols, junk mail and newspapers can all be recycled.