Sustainable End-of-Life Options for Plastics in New Zealand

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3.2.1.1 Pre-consumer Industrial From the 2005 Recycling Survey it was found that in 2004 the least amount of plastic was recovered through pre-consumer industrial collections. The 4,487t of pre-consumer industrial material was mostly scrap and products that were out of design specification or rejected due to defects. The majority of the scrap and rejected products would have been recycled in-house through feedstock recycling, as long as it was clean. (It is important to note material that was recycled inhouse through feedstock recycling was not incorporated as part of the pre-consumer industrial data; and therefore does not contribute to the recycling target.) Pre-consumer industrial material was collected mainly by commercial recycling companies, using skips, cages, and other containers; or transported by the manufacturer through alternative arrangements. 3.2.1.2 Post-consumer Industrial The largest proportion of plastic recovered in 2004 was post-consumer industrial. The 18,082t mainly consisted of plastic film used as wrapping around pallets of stock for protection during transportation and storage. The remaining post-consumer industrial material included mainly damaged/faulty goods from the modification/filling of plastic packaging. Again this material was collected by commercial recycling companies via methods mentioned above. Commercial recycling companies regularly collect this material from cages or bins that they own and place outside the ’Inwards Goods’ of major supermarkets and retailers. 3.2.1.3 Post-consumer Domestic In the third category, there was 12,873t of post-consumer domestic material recovered. This consisted of plastic products used and disposed of in kerbside recycling receptacles, at drop-off centres or through public collection methods such as recycling bins at events. Most of the material was collected at the kerbside and consisted of used household plastic products, predominantly beverage packaging such as milk, soft-drink and juice bottles. At drop-off centres and through event recycling, the majority of collected material was plastic beverage packaging, mainly from products intended for ‘out and about’ use. This material was collected by commercial recyclers, mainly under contract with local councils; at public drop-off facilities; or collected by community groups (material collected this way would then be passed on to commercial recyclers). The number of city/district councils that introduced post-consumer domestic kerbside collections of recyclable material between 1989 and 2005 increased at an exponential rate. Out of the 74 city/district councils surveyed by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), 55 had implemented kerbside collection systems in their regions. While a number of councils are expected to introduce kerbside recycling in the next few years, the rate of growth is expected to decrease, (see Figure 16.) 23 Sustainable End-of-Life Options for Plastics in New Zealand
Figure 16: Implementation of kerbside recovery by commercial recyclers on behalf of councils, for all recyclable materials (Source: MfE Council Survey, 2005) 3.2.2 Facilities for Material Recovery In the survey, 96.8% 17 of the total NZ population 18 was assumed to have access through collection systems/facilities to recycle plastic PET and HDPE material for recovery; through kerbside collection systems, drop-off centre facilities, or through other means. Specifically, 55 out of the 74 councils 19 were listed as having kerbside collection systems operating in their areas and 60 had drop-off centre facilities. As illustrated in Figure 17, the percentages of the total NZ population with access to recycle: • paper/cardboard • cans/tins • glass, and • HDPE (2) and PET (1) plastic (beverage bottles and containers) were relatively similar. 17. With regards to data accuracy, all information was taken directly from survey responses, and did not undergo an extensive quality assurance process. It should also be noted that when calculating access to recycling services, it was assumed (for simplicity) that kerbside and drop-off systems were available district-wide, even when those services may not have been available in all parts of a district. 18. The total population of NZ as of March 2005 was 4,060,810 (Source: MfE, 2005). 19. At the time of the survey, there were 74 territorial authorities. 16 of which were city- and 58 were district councils (for more information visit: www.lgnz.co.nz). Current NZ Infrastructure for Recovery and End Markets 24
Page 1 and 2: Research Project Report Sustainable
Page 3 and 4: Executive Summary The purpose of th
Page 5 and 6: Acknowledgements Special thanks are
Page 7 and 8: 4.2.5 Measure of Degradability ....
Page 9 and 10: Introduction In 2003 the New Zealan
Page 11 and 12: Results 1. Plastic Material in NZ 1
Page 13 and 14: From the 2005 PNZ Mass Balance Surv
Page 15 and 16: 2. Statistical Analysis of Plastic
Page 17 and 18: 2.3 Breakdown of Recovered Plastic
Page 19 and 20: 2.5 Breakdown of Colours and Produc
Page 21 and 22: 2.5.4 PVC Approximately 2,412t of P
Page 23: 3. Assessment of the Current NZ Inf
Page 27 and 28: Figure 18: Other material recovered
Page 29 and 30: 3.3.3 Forms of End-Market Material
Page 31 and 32: 4.2.4 Cons • The cost of deriving
Page 33 and 34: 4.2.8 Viability of Composting Plast
Page 35 and 36: Strict regulations have been set in
Page 37 and 38: 5. Factors Influencing Recovery 5.1
Page 39 and 40: Commercial recyclers operating unde
Page 41 and 42: 5.9 Key Points Voluntary industry a
Page 43 and 44: Recommendations R.1 Improve Informa
Page 45 and 46: Appendices Appendix 1: Supplementar
Page 47 and 48: Appendix 2.8 Forms of Plastic End-M

Sustainable End-of-Life Options for Plastics in New Zealand

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