Plastic buckets are among the items that can be dropped off at three Auckland community recycling centres as part of a new council trial running until the end of October. Photo: 123RF
A new Auckland Council trial aims to give large plastic items like laundry baskets, buckets, chairs, rubbish bins and storage boxes a new life.
The plastics can be dropped off at community recycling centres (CRCs) in Devonport, Helensville and Waiuku until the end of October.
The trial, which was launched today, is in co-ordination with IP Plastics, a Papakura-based company which manufactures a wide range of large plastic items, ranging from horticultural supplies to furniture.
Items made from recyclable polypropylene make up 85 percent of the products it manufactures.
The council's general manager of waste solutions, Parul Sood, said the initiative's aim was to increase the number of products made from recycled plastics.
It would also contribute to the council's target of Zero Waste by 2040.
"If you're a resident and you have got large plastic items no longer of use to you, bring it to the community recycling centres that are part of the trial," she said.
"They will be collected and sent to IP Plastics, which will then process them into new containers or scallop-shaped swimming pools."
Sood also hinted the council was working on changes to its inorganic rubbish collections.
"The aim is to actually have more community recycling centres and eventually we should not need inorganic collections in the city.
"The long-term aim is to increase the number of products made from recycled plastics to contribute to building circular economies within Aotearoa."
The council aimed to extend the trial to accept a wider range of number five polypropylene plastics in the future, as well as to include collection at other CRC's around Auckland, Sood said.