Where to recycle soft plastics in Tauranga: Scheme launches in 16 stores

Tauranga residents can now recycle their soft plastics at 16 local grocery stores.

The Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme, run by The Packaging Forum, was launched in Tauranga this morning.

The scheme gives participating supermarkets dedicated drop-off bins for soft plastics, such as bread bags and other food wrappings, which are then collected and reused by an innovative Auckland company.

Soft plastics cannot be recycled through the Tauranga City Council's kerbside service as they require special processing, according to its website.

Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme manager Lyn Mayes told the Bay of Plenty Times Tauranga now has the most soft plastic recycling bins per capita of any New Zealand city where the scheme is operating.

Stores volunteer to be part of the scheme and pay a contribution to have a bin on their property.

"We've been amazed at how many stores [in Tauranga] wanted to be a part of it."

The Bayfair Shopping Centre has also become the first shopping centre in the country to join.

Left to right: FuturePost founder Jerome Wenzlick, scheme manager Lyn Mayes, Packaging Forum CEO Rob Langford. Photo / Talia Parker

Mayes said the scheme now collects around 50 tonnes of soft plastic a month and is projected to collect 800 tonnes this year.

Mayes recommended keeping a separate bin liner and separating out soft plastics as they go.

The containers need to be "clean, dry, and empty" to be recycled.

Once the bin liner is full, Mayes said residents can take it to a participating store and drop it in the special bin.

Mayes urged the community to "give it a go just for a week" at home.

The collected plastic is taken to Waiuku's FuturePosts, which turns the plastic into fence posts sold around the country.

Mayes said the plastic collected by the scheme last year made around 34,000 fence posts - enough to fence from Waiuku to Tauranga.

FuturePost's founder Jerome Wenzlick said soft plastic makes up half the plastic they use to create their fence posts.

The plastic arrives to their factory bailed, and is put through a 'granulator' which "chips it up into little flakes of plastic".

"We then mix that with all our different plastics…[which then] goes into our machinery and then into whatever shaped posts.

Wenzlick got his start as a fencer, and said timber posts are treated with "poisonous, horrible muck" that often left him covered in green chemicals.

Pak n'Save Tauriko owner and operator Jon Morrison said it was "awesome" to have the scheme launched.

"Our customers have been asking for it."

He said other businesses who want to join the scheme should contact the Packaging Forum.

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller spoke at the scheme's launch event and had worked with the forum to bring it to Tauranga.

Muller became involved through his personal experiences with recycling.

Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller speaking at the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme launch event. Photo / supplied

"I was grumpy with the city council for reducing the size of our bins...I did a social media post moaning about it, and I got quite a reaction saying, 'well, sort [your rubbish] then'."

But he quickly realised he had no place to take his soft plastics.

"It feels like a bit of a chore to separate out the soft plastics – but when you do, the difference it makes in terms of the extra space in your rubbish bin is eye-watering.

"Now you can…take it to your supermarket and get rid of it ... saves a trip to the dump, [at] no cost."

The Packaging Forum's chief executive Rob Langford said he was proud to be in Tauranga and of "how we've extended the reach [of the scheme]".

The forum is an industry organisation to "develop solutions to recover and recycle packaging material" and create a circular lifecycle for it.

"We have to change our future, and the only way we can change our future is for each individual to take their ownership and responsibility."

He encouraged Tauranga residents to "give it a go" and "find out just how easy it is to do it".

"And know that you're doing the right thing for your community, you're doing the right thing for your environment and a great thing for the future of New Zealand."

Tauranga City Council's manager of sustainability and waste Sam Fellows said it was "wonderful" to see the scheme in Tauranga.

He said it "will work very well with our kerbside collections" to meet the goal of halving the waste sent to landfills.

"Our community has really embraced our kerbside collections, and significantly reduced the amount of recyclables and organics from their rubbish."

Where to recycle your soft plastics:
•PAK'nSAVE: Tauriko, Pāpāmoa and Cameron Rd
•New World: Tauranga, Gate Pa and Mount Maunganui
•Countdown: Bethlehem, Bureta Park, Fraser Cove, Tauranga and Pāpāmoa
•The Warehouse: Tauranga, Tauranga Crossing, Fraser Cove and Pāpāmoa
•Bayfair Shopping Centre