Soft plastics recycling arrives in Nelson-Tasman

You can now recycle plastic shopping bags, chip packets, bread bags and other soft plastics with the arrival of the Love NZ Soft Plastic Recycling Programme in our region.

Drop off points will be available at all New World, Countdown and Pak’nSave stores in the region from this week.

The Love NZ Soft Plastic Recycling Programme is a voluntary, industry-led initiative where everyone involved in the life cycle of a product — manufacturers, distributors and consumers — choose to share responsibility for the best end-of-life outcome.

The programme takes 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 and sanitary hygiene packaging and turns them into new products.

New Zealanders currently use around 1.6 billion plastic bags in the home every year. That means 4.3 million are being thrown away every day.

Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne says: “It’s fantastic that people in our region can now recycle soft plastics, successfully diverting much of the packaging that currently ends up in our landfill. Congratulations to the industry for taking responsibility for the full lifecycle of their products.

“Recycling of soft plastics supports our overall aim to reduce waste to landfill, which includes both recycling and reducing the use of single-use bags.”

Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese says she welcomes any initiative that contributes to improving the efficiency of resource use and reduces the harmful effects of waste.

“Council has clear goals to reduce the creation of all types of waste, and to encourage people to see waste as a resource. Being able to recycle these types of plastics helps reduce our landfill burden. If you’re going to buy a product that includes single-use plastics then please make every effort to use the Love NZ Soft Plastic Recycling Programme drop off points in Nelson Tasman.”

How it works
Collect your soft plastics – make sure they are clean and dry
Drop into your nearest collection point
The programme will recycling them into fitness circuits, outdoor furniture, bollards and other products.
Find out more
Visit www.recycling.kiwi.nz/soft-plastics

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