Recycling : New Zealand’s lack of uniform standards hampers national recycling efforts
In 2020, the average household in New Zealand used 941 plastic containers or bottles. Of these, 41 percent could potentially be recycled but ended in landfill instead. In an effort to stymie plastic waste, the government is set to ban most single-use plastics (disposable items such as cotton buds, drink stirrers, fruit labels or cutlery) by 2025.
Yet this piece of legislation fails to address the wider recycling problems the country currently faces. ’Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand’, a 2020 report released by the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, laid the blame with regard to insufficient recycling practice in the country on non-existent nationwide recycling standards.
Under current conditions, the report explains, recycling appears complex to the average consumer due to the myriad plastic code symbols used by the industry for identification purposes. The plastic codes in question come with numbers inside a 3-arrow symbol. Usually, the 3-arrow symbol on its one is enough to denote that an item can be recycled but the plastic industry’s adoption of said symbol and their juxtaposition of it with their bespoke ID number codes has led to some amount of general confusion.
A survey conducted within purview of the study found that comprehension of said symbols is relatively low. 39 percent of people asked knew that the symbol denoted that the plastic in question could be recycled while 40 percent believed the number/arrow combination referred to the specific plastic type used rather than general recyclability. Considering these results, it is not surprising that 58 percent of respondents failed to recognize the international recycling symbol-a thicker 3-arrow symbol without a number inside-when shown. In order to ensure that recyclable plastics do not needlessly end up in landfill, manufacturers are tasked to make labels more comprehensive Adopting a similar system to the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL), an on-pack labelling scheme which provides Australians with easy to understand and uniform recycling information, was also proposed as a long-term solution within the report.
Another issue adversely affecting recycling efforts identified within the previously mentioned report are the multiple recycling systems simultaneously in use. Often, every council operates under a different system with many outsourcing kerbside recycling and collection to contractors who in turn have their own way of managing things. This is a problem in so far as the definition of what is recyclable or not may depend on where one lives rather than whether or not an item can actually be recycled.
Beyond individual initiatives such as plastic bans or investment into alternative energies, the New Zealand government needs to invest in an easy to understand, universal recycling regime that manages to engage the local population to do its part when it comes to reducing the amount of plastic going to landfill on a yearly basis.