Recycling under pressure from China

China, the world's largest importer of recyclable plastics, has introduced a stringent new policy that Cleanstream Northland says has affected recycling markets globally, and will impact on the Far North's recycling industry despite the great job locals are doing.

Kaitaia-based Cleanstream Northland, jointly owned by the Community Business and Environment Centre (CBEC) and Te Rarawa, employs a large local workforce to collect, process and dispatch tonnes of recyclable material from the Far North every year. While some recyclables are reprocessed in New Zealand, certain plastics have to be exported.

CBEC business manager Simon Millichamp said the new "Green Fence Policy" enforced strict regulations and contamination limits on recycling product entering China, including tighter security for containers arriving at Chinese ports.

The policy's "contamination" provisions included certain plastics that would not be accepted, such as those without a resin number stamped on them, and plastics that were dirty or unwashed. Shipping containers would undergo tougher inspections to ensure that loads with 2 per cent or more dirty or unacceptable bottles were not allowed into the country.

Cleanstream could continue recycling plastics with the resin numbers 1, 2, 4 or 5 stamped on the bottle, including clear and coloured soft drink bottles, milk and cream bottles, janitorial or household cleaning bottles, shampoo and shower gel bottles, and assorted food containers with 5 stamped on them. Clear and coloured film and plastic bags could also still be recycled.

Mr Millichamp emphasised the importance of ensuring that all containers/recyclables were cleaned and rinsed before collection. Anything that was not clean would be rubbish, and would go to landfill.

The changes reduced the range of material the Far North could sell for export, and hindered growth in the local recycling workforce, while less material going out of the region would also put pressure on local landfills, he added.

"We'll be OK if we identify what can be recycled and reduce the need for or use of unrecyclable plastics," he said, however.

"Northlanders will simply need to be a lot more careful about what they send off for recycling. Where before we could put out any old plastics like old toys and plastic chairs, we now have to be more selective.

"Generally speaking, all bottles and some food containers are fine, but we have to make sure items are clean. We will be publishing exactly what can and can't be accepted in the very near future."

And while the policy changes reduced the volume the region could sell for export, he believed there was still a lot of room to recycle more of the "right" types of product. New materials and products that could now be recycled included silage wrap and obsolete electronics.

He also believed the Far North could achieve China's limit of 1.5 per cent contamination.

"There's too much at stake for our local recycling workforce and their potential income not to rise to the challenge," he said.

Cleanstream would grow with the new challenges, and was determined to ensure that Northland's recycling product continued to reach the highest standard.

"If you look at this as an opportunity, we can live up to the clean green image we project to the international tourism and trade industries," Mr Millichamp said.

"We don't want to export our waste problems; we only want to collect recycling that can be sold as a genuine resource."

He believed Northland could promote the clean green image by supplying high-quality, environmentally-sustainable product that buyers wanted, and saw an opportunity to model high standards of practice to tourists and other visitors to the region. In time Northland product could become "top shelf", in high demand and even eventually sold at a premium.

"If we provide the highest quality and cleanest product, we can become the preferred supplier to buyers. New Zealand could become world leaders in this industry if we put our minds to it," he said.

"But it starts on an individual, and a household level. We all play a part. For householders it simply means being very conscious of what you put out for collection, making sure everything is washed and clean."