Under a free national recycling programme operated by international recycling company TerraCycle, waste such as food wrappers, used toothbrushes and coffee capsules have been recycled instead of being sent to landfill or incinerated.
TerraCycle Australia and New Zealand public relations manager Liz Keen said the programme had raised $14,500 for New Zealand schools and non-profit organisations in the process.
"TerraCycle is congratulating its collectors in New Zealand for recycling 1.5 million units of traditionally unrecyclable waste in just four years — that’s about 15.6 tonnes of waste or the weight of two elephants.
"With the help of its collectors in New Zealand, TerraCycle has so far diverted 3.8 billion pieces of waste from landfill and incineration, and has raised $US15.6million for schools and non-profit organisations, worldwide.
"There are individuals, schools and organisations collecting for TerraCycle in Dunedin and Otago, including Macandrew Bay School, St Bernadette’s School, Warepa School, Flowers on Mornington and Tasty Tours, which have contributed to New Zealand’s 1.5 million-unit milestone."
Ms Keen said mixed-plastic waste could be recycled in New Zealand but high costs made the process less attractive for recycling and manufacturing companies.
"As a result, this waste ends up in landfill or incineration.
"With TerraCycle, after collecting the hard-to-recycle waste in any old cardboard box, collectors download a free shipping label from their TerraCycle account, stick the label on the box and drop the waste at their nearest post office to send to TerraCycle for recycling."
The company cleaned, shredded and melted the waste down into hard plastic, and created products such as watering cans, deck chairs, garden beds and playgrounds.
"For each unit of waste collected in several of the programmes (not all), collectors earn donations towards their nominated school or non-profit organisation."
Such organisations included Oxfam New Zealand, Women’s Refuge New Zealand and Sustainable Coastlines.
The goal was to create materials that could be used as a sustainable alternative to virgin materials.
