Give the environment a gift this Christmas – Recycle

Give the environment a gift this Christmas – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

3rd December 2014

Over Christmas and summer holidays New Zealanders generate around 30% more waste and most of it can be recycled if people use the right bin.

The Packaging Forum and its members and partners are supporting a whole variety of events up and down the country to make sure people can recycle when they are out and about. Lyn Mayes, Manager of the Packaging Forum’s Public Place Recycling Scheme says:

“Our recycling at events calendar is packed with sports, cultural festivals and big-name concerts. Highlights include the Coca Cola Christmas in the Park, Heineken Tennis Open; Volvo Ocean Race, Winery Tour, Sol3 Mio Concert and the Lantern Festival. It’s our experience that if you provide recycling facilities people want to do the right thing.

Last year recycling in public place recycling bins over the summer was up over 26% or 60 tonnes compared to a normal month. That means in one summer month New Zealanders recycled an additional 2.3 million cans, bottles and cartons than usual. The Packaging Forum promotes the Government’s recycling brand Love NZ. There are lots of Love NZ branded recycling bins all over New Zealand on high streets, in shopping malls, at airports and ferry terminals. BP’s Wild Bean Café’s and AJ Hackett have them and so do Skyline and Rainbows End.

Annually these public place recycling bins collectively divert around 3000 tonnes of waste from landfill equivalent to the weight of 200,000 Christmas trees in a forest of around 5 square kilometers!”

And at home, it’s important to check with your local council for any changes to their summer collection schedules. In the annual survey conducted on behalf of The Packaging Forum by Horizon Research, 82% people say they recycle at kerbside and a further 10% take their recycling to local drop off facilities.”

ENDS

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