HUTT CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE

1 May 2019

Let’s sort out waste is a new campaign launched by Hutt City Council today which aims to raise awareness about what can and can’t be recycled, and identifies ways to reduce waste to lessen the impact on the environment.

The campaign supports changes to kerbside collections where plastics 3 to 7 will no longer be collected, and at recycling stations where bins primarily intended for plastic materials are being removed across Lower Hutt.

“The first phase of the campaign is called What’s the number? and aims to get people to check the number on the bottom of containers and packaging to see if they can be recycled. We want everyone to identify recyclable plastics in categories 1 and 2 which can go in kerbside crates and get them to think differently about what plastics are going in their recycling bin,” says Hutt City Council’s Manager Sustainability & Resilience Jörn Scherzer.

“While we accept that putting plastics 3 to 7 into rubbish bins and then the landfill isn’t ideal we need to face the reality that they can’t currently be efficiently recycled. A key challenge for all of us is to reduce and avoid unnecessary waste. Businesses and manufacturers are part of the solution too and need to rethink their use of the plastics that can no longer be recycled and look for alternatives. Some businesses have already stopped using polystyrene, which can’t be recycled, and are now using moulded pulp cardboard packaging which is recyclable,” says Scherzer.

“Most plastics take centuries to degrade and there is declining demand internationally for most of the plastic products that were previously taken by China. A lot of people think that by putting plastic products in their kerbside recycling or taking these products to our recycling stations that the problem is taken care of but this is not always the case.

“Let’s sort out waste will help to raise awareness amongst our communities that change needs to be made,” says Scherzer.

Information about Hutt City Council’s recycling changes is available on huttcity.govt.nz/recycling

ENDS

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