Solution found for stockpile of #1 plastics

Golden Bay Cement has agreed to take 88 tonnes of degraded coloured plastic from the council and will add it to its construction products, preventing it from going to landfill.

The council had been stockpiling coloured 1 (PET) plastic after international markets for recycling declined, making it uneconomic for Far North District Council to recycle that type of plastic. The council continued to accept, and stockpile, coloured 1 (PET) plastic in the hope markets would recover.

In May, the council announced that its transfer stations and recycling centres would stop accepting coloured 1 (PET) plastic in July and that the stockpiled material would have to go to landfill. The total amount was initially estimated to be close to 190 tonnes. That has since been revised down to 88 tonnes.

Following that announcement, several organisations contacted the council to investigate taking the stockpile. The council has now agreed that Golden Bay Cement will take the bales of plastic. The Whangārei-based company says it will incorporate the plastic into a designated cement product, an approach that is consistent with the council’s waste minimisation and sustainability strategy.

Since mid-July coloured 1 (PET) plastics are no longer accepted for recycling at council waste transfer and recycling stations and attract the same charge as other household waste going to landfill. Coloured 1 (PET) plastic is mostly made up of drink bottles and blue tinted water bottles. Clear versions of this type of plastic displaying the 1 (PET) symbol, such as meat trays, are not affected and will continue to be accepted at council transfer and recycling centres.

The agreement with Golden Bay Cement will deal with the stockpile only. The council is pursuing longer-term solutions to prevent coloured 1 (PET) plastics from going to landfill.

For now, coloured 1 (PET) plastic will need to be dropped at the landfill area of council transfer stations where fees for waste disposal are charged. These charges can be found on our Rubbish-and-Recycling website.