KEY POINTS:
Plastic rubbish containers that Aucklanders have been told for years to throw out are now in demand by recycling companies.
But many of Auckland's councils have not passed on the news to residents that kerbside collectors now have fewer restrictions on what containers they will accept.
Contractors are willingly taking all types of plastic containers graded from 1 to 7 to supply lucrative new markets for them.
In recent years, they had taken only grades 1 and 2 plastic bottles from the kitchen, laundry or bathroom.
Remaining containers had been buried in a landfill - to the dismay of Aucklanders wanting to do their bit for recycling and cut household waste.
The recycling contractors' excuse was they had no markets for the other types of plastic containers such as margarine, icecream, yoghurt and honey containers.
But yesterday, contractor Streetsmart told the Herald it was accepting any plastic containers in the bin that had the recycling triangle logo, including yoghurt and margarine containers.
"Not all councils have publicised that we are doing it," said operations manager Tony Wilson. "It's mainly because we are trying to establish there is an economically viable and sustainable market."
Mr Wilson said the company had found an overseas market.
Most councils endorsed the company's move late last year to voluntarily collect grade 5 - icecream containers.
But they were wary of backing the company's latest bid to pick up all grades from 1 to 7. "The councils need to have confidence that we have a sustainable market.
"We understand that. We can't start collecting them and turn around three months later and say, 'We have no market', and stop collecting.
"And we must know whether we have the consistent supply that the market requires."
The Manukau City Council says it is one of the few in the country to promote the expansion of its kerbside collection to include the full range of containers, except for plastic bags.
"It will make it easier for residents to recycle," said council spokeswoman Patricia Facenfield.
"This has the potential for a substantial amount of extra rubbish a year to be recycled instead of going into landfills."
Streetsmart has contracts for kerbside recycling in Manukau and Auckland cities and Rodney, Papakura, Whangarei, Thames-Coromandel and Waipa districts.
Waitakere and North Shore cities use contractor Onyx.
Yesterday, the Auckland City Council website was still telling people to put only grades 1 and 2 plastic bottles in their blue bins for recycling.
Council spokesman Warwick Jaine said that was the council's set policy, but Streetsmart had acted on its own initiative to expand the range.
"We are not actively promoting it at the moment. We want to see how it goes."
Waitakere City Council solid waste manager Jon Roscoe said he did not believe a lot of recyclable plastic was being dumped by householders in refuse bags because the council was not promoting the fact it could be recycled.
"Since we and North Shore City moved to wheelie bins for recyclables we have had a 30 per cent increase in recycling volumes.
"It's coming from stuff people had put in their refuse bags."
The Packaging Council says plastic packaging recovery rates have increased to 21 per cent nationally and the target is 23 per cent by 2008.
