A project aimed at reusing plastic not previously recycled in New Zealand is taking steps to keep millions of plastic containers out of landfill and the environment.
The initiative, launched by home and body care products company ecostore, will remake its used containers into new bottles to take pressure off "the country's overwhelmed waste and recycling system," says the company's group marketing director Jemma Whiten.
"We will remake every bottle we get back right here in New Zealand meaning they don't get shipped overseas to become someone else's problem."
Around 100 bottle drop collection points - at specialty stores and schools - have been set up throughout the country where people can leave their empty ecostore containers. Once collected the bottles will be processed into chips, melted and remade into bottles.
Whiten says the average New Zealand household uses 941 plastic containers or bottles a year (these figures from a 2020 report by resource recovery watchdog WasteMinz) amounting to a staggering 1.76 billion disposed of every year: "Obviously the system can't cope and it's time for business to lead the way and be part of the solution; we believe the launch of our project is a bold move."
When ecostore first announced the bottle recall on social media in early August many people thought it was because of product concerns. But Whiten says the move is not due to a product or packaging fault, it is simply aimed at taking the pressure off the waste and recycling system – "we must recall our bottles and get them back so we can take responsibility for them.
She says while the collection points are open in areas at lockdown level two outside Auckland, ecostore is asking Aucklanders to hold on to their bottles until the level three restrictions ease.
The company's containers are predominately made out of sugarcane HDPE (recycle #2) which is the second largest stream of plastic in New Zealand, along with #1 PET plastic has the highest recycling value. Their lids are made out of polypropolene (#5) and are also recyclable. However, Whiten says, up until now these bottles have been sorted in New Zealand and then shipped overseas.
"We shouldn't be shifting our problem to other parts of the world," she says. "We should be looking after it here in New Zealand."
"The bottle recall is a way of highlighting the urgency of the problem, while presenting a positive solution," Whiten says. "While our programme is viewed as a starting point, the aim is to create a system that can ultimately be used by many other businesses to help drive change and maximise the amount of plastic taken out of the system."
She says consumers want businesses to step up, most of which are aware of this. She says a 2020 Colmar Brunton Better Futures report revealed seven out of 10 say business is responsible for addressing the environmental problems we face.
The plastic return programme, which is being helped through support from the Ministry for the Environment's Waste Minimisation Fund (for Auckland, the project in the remainder of the country being funded by ecostore), was successfully trialled in nine schools in 2019 and Whiten says involving schools is a key part of the project.
"We are continuing to engage schools so young New Zealanders feel empowered to make an impact on climate change and reduce plastic in the environment," she says. "Through our programme, we want to help educate future kaitiaki (guardianship of the land and resources) and so they can learn by doing. Young New Zealanders have highlighted plastic waste as one of their biggest concerns (according to the Colmar Brunton report)."
ecostore Group CEO Pablo Kraus says Kiwis are increasingly mindful of the impact of their consumption on the environment and says an Auckland Council report showing it collected 27 per cent more HDPE plastic during (the lockdown) in April this year was a reminder of this.
"Our company is guided by the principle of 'planet before profit', yet we know that our bottles, despite using sustainable and renewable sugar plastic, are part of the problem,' he says. "Every bottle is returned is one less bottle the country's beleaguered recycling plants need to deal with and it has the potential to take millions of bottles out of the system.
"Since plastic was invented, we humans have produced 8.3 billion tonnes of it globally, and 91 per cent of this plastic has never been recycled. The vast majority of this is sitting in landfills or has made its way into our environment."
Kraus says the WasteMinz report shows that right now 39 per cent of recyclable plastic in New Zealand goes directly to landfill and much of the 61per cent that goes into the recycling system is actually sent overseas.
To find out more about the bottle recall and where your nearest collection point is, visit recall.ecostore.com