Rubbish and recycling

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Recycling - CBD, Auckland isthmus and Waiheke Island 

What can and can't be recycled

What can be recycled
	Glass bottles/jars and their lids only. Please ensure that items are cleaned and lids removed. Lids can be placed in your recycle bin/bag. Please note: broken glass bottles and jars can be placed directly into your blue-lidded recycling wheelie bin. However, if you have a bag for your recycling collection, broken glass must be wrapped in paper and placed in your rubbish bag to prevent injury.
	Aluminium/tin cans only - rinsed, squashed and with can lids safely inside.
	Plastic bottles and containers, and their lids (grades one to seven from the kitchen, bathroom and laundry only), excluding bottles that may have been contaminated with oil, fuel, weed killers, etc, or are larger than 4 litres capacity. See below for information about what can't be recycled Please remove lids, rinse and squash containers. The lids can be recycled as well. The grade is indicated inside the recycling symbol (triangle) on the item. Examples of bottles/containers in each grade are: - soft drink bottles - milk, cream and detergent bottles - food and cleaning material bottles - flexible squeeze bottles - icecream, yoghurt, margarine and chinese takeaway containers, strawberry punnets - shampoo, conditioner and moisturiser bottles, dip containers - squeezable tomato sauce containers  Read more about the recycling symbols and what they mean.
	Paper/cardboard All cardboard and paper (including window envelopes and Tetra Pak cartons eg juice and milk cartons) except those items listed under What can't be recycled CBD only Flatten cardboard boxes, and tie paper with string or put in a cardboard box for collection.
What can't be recycled
	Glass - these types of glass all contain other materials that make them unsuitable to recycle: broken glass. Please note: broken glass bottles and jars can be placed directly into your blue-lidded recycling wheelie bin. However, if you have a bag for your recycling collection, broken glass must be wrapped in paper and placed in your rubbish bag to prevent injury. window, mirror, frosted, crystal and reinforced glass light bulbs pyrex and arcoroc tableware
	Plastics - the following cannot be recycled: plastics with no grade (number in a triangle) cling film disposable nappies fuel oil containers - the fuel oil contaminates the plastic container toys, buckets, baskets any container or bottle larger than 4 litres. The truck's compactors are unable to deal with the size of the container or thickness of the plastic polystyrene eg meat/food trays, cups and packaging - read more about polystyrene plastic bags - read more about plastic bags
	Aluminium or tin aluminium foil and food containers eg meals on wheels containers paint tins fuel oil containers fridge parts garden tools aluminium pots and pans
	Paper shredded paper paper that has plastic, wax or other greaseproof coating eg carbon paper photocopy paper wrappers food wrappings/containers - as food is a contaminant Shredded paper can not be put out for recycling as it will clog the machines at the Materials Recycling Facility. Household quantities of shredded paper can be used in the garden compost as a mulch. Businesses with large quantities will need to contact a private collector.

Polystyrene

The council kerbside recycling service does not take any forms of polystyrene.

During the sorting process, the polystyrene can be easily broken and a build up of polystyrene particles at the materials recovery facility can cause equipment to clog, stop and break. By placing polystyrene out in your recycling, you could contaminate an entire truckload of recycling material, meaning it can't be recycled.

You should dispose of polystyrene with your household rubbish.

Polystyrene is a polymer made by using a compound called styrene - a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum. Polystyrene has been identified as #6 in the plastics identification scale of 1 to 7. It is a versatile material that comes in various forms: foam or rigid, as well as clear, coloured or printed. Meat trays, coffee cups, takeaway food containers and foam packing material are examples of polystyrene.

What's the difference between polystyrene and Styrofoam?

What we commonly call Styrofoam, is actually the most recognisable form of foam polystyrene packaging. Styrofoam ® is a Dow Chemical Co. trademarked form of polystyrene foam insulation and can be found in coffee cups and electronics packaging. Styrofoam is not accepted in the kerbside recycling collection and should be disposed of with your household rubbish.

Plastic bags

Plastic bags are not recyclable through the council kerbside recycling collection.

Plastic bags can clog the machinery at the recycling facility and cause equipment failures. If an entire load is contaminated with plastic bags it will go to landfill rather than be recycled.

Plastic shopping bags are a problem in our environment for a number of reasons:

• they can take up to 1,000 years to break down. As plastic bags are lightweight and moisture resistant, they can also travel long distances and cause environmental problems in many places over time
• plastic shopping bags end up as litter in our environment each year which can block drains, trap birds and kill marine life. These bags and up as waste on our beaches, streets and parks. When a plastic bag enters the ocean it becomes a harmful piece of litter. Many marine animals and birds mistake plastic bags for food and swallow them, with painful and often fatal consequences. Bags also end up in stormwater drains where they can cause blockages
• the over-consumption of plastic bags is an unnecessary use of resources, such as energy and materials.

New Zealand uses approximately one billion plastic bags per year. Try to minimise your use of plastic bags by taking reusable bags with you when you go shopping.

Try some of the following ideas to reuse bags you have at home before throwing them away:

• as a wet umbrella cover - keep other items in your bag dry when your umbrella is wet.
• doggie doo ­ take them while walking your dog to collect and dispose of pet waste.
• wrap your shoes in plastic bags when packing luggage to keep your clothes clean.

Some supermarkets and Warehouses offer drop-off programmes that allow customers to return their plastic bags to be recycled. Check with retailers to see whether they offer this programme in your community. Alternatively you can dispose of them with your household rubbish.

Updated March 2010