Environment Network Manawatū welcomes bottle tops for recycling

Environment Network Manawatū communications and events lead Helen King is happy to receive your bottle tops.

Environment Network Manawatū no longer has TerraCycle zero-waste boxes, but it is the place to take your bottle tops.

Until the end of March, people were able to drop blister packs, cosmetic, haircare and skincare packaging, and some stationery into the boxes for recycling.

The boxes were paid for by a Palmerston North City Council Resource Recovery Fund grant.

Environment Network Manawatū (ENM) communications and events lead Helen King said the boxes were only a trial.

The boxes were popular, but King also valued the conversations about waste disposal she had with people who brought in recycling. She said it was lovely to watch parents teach their children about recycling.

Waste is a global problem a small organisation like ENM can’t solve, but it encourages people to advocate for packaging changes.

The blister pack box was particularly popular, and it was getting to the point where ENM would need to pay $300 for a new box every two weeks, King said.

That was unsustainable.

Under nationwide council kerbside recycling rules that came into effect on February 1, loose bottle tops are no longer accepted.

ENM is accepting wine bottle tops, beer bottle tops and type two, four and five plastic lids, including those from milk bottles.

It has entered a relationship with plastic recycler Aotearoa NZ Made in Longburn. Its goal is to give plastic another life and it makes a range of rubbish bags.

The aluminium tops will be taken to metal recyclers.

The bottle tops need to be clean and only in household quantities.

ENM at 145 Cuba St in Palmerston North is open Mondays to Thursdays from 9am-4pm. There is free parking outside.

Palmerston North City Council accepts lids tethered to plastic bottles (types one, two, five) in recycling bins.

Lids tethered to aluminium or steel cans can also be put in the recycling bin.

Tethered lids are ones that stay attached to the bottle, container or tin can when open.

Batteries can be taken to the Ferguson Street Recycling Centre, the Customer Service Centre and libraries for recycling.

Tetra Pak cartons can be taken to the recycling centre.

Judith Lacy has been the editor of the Manawatū Guardian since December 2020. She graduated from journalism school in 2001 and this is her second role editing a community paper.