Five years on: recycling up by 26%

The Packaging Council today released the latest data about New Zealand’s packaging production, consumption and recovery showing that New Zealanders recycled more than 428,000 tonnes of packaging last year and has hit all of the targets set under the five year Packaging Accord.

Since 2004 the total quantity of packaging recycled increased by 26%, whereas consumption of packaging increased at a much slower pace by 14%.  On a per capita basis the quantity recycled by every New Zealander increased by from 83kg to 100kg. Paul Curtis Executive Director of the Packaging Council said that the trends are positive: 

“Overall we are recycling 58% of the packaging consumed and we have now met or surpassed the individual recycling targets for paperboard, glass, aluminium, plastic and steel.  This is a great result given the major impact which the recession has had on commodity prices particularly for paper, steel and plastics. The average New Zealander now recycles 100kg of packaging each year.  In total, New Zealanders would fill about 22,000 shipping containers each year”.

“Brands have reduced the packaging used on a range of products, often in ways consumers are not aware of. We are doing more to make sure that the right amount of packaging is used and that even more is recovered and recycled when we have finished with it. By doing this we use fewer raw materials, save transport costs and greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the amount of waste we as consumers – as well as local authorities – have to deal with. That’s good for people and businesses, and good for the planet.”

This “mass balance data” is compiled annually to track recovery levels and trends of packaging waste to landfill. The methodology and accuracy of the data has been improved during the Accord period. The table below charts progress by packaging type and against the Accord targets. The numbers for paper production, consumption and recovery have been restated for 2007. The glass recovery data does not include 13,000 tonnes of glass which is pending processing.

2008 Mass Balance Data

Restated 2007 Mass Balance Data

Of particular interest in the past year:-

• New Zealand packaging production has increased overall by 1.8% across all materials except plastics which declined by 4%;
• Consumption increased by 4% overall with the exception of steel which has declined;
• Recovery increased by 2% with all sectors reporting increased tonnages except for paper. This is a particularly encouraging result given significantly reduced demand for recovered materials. Collection of steel, aluminium and plastics has increased with the introduction of the Auckland Materials Recovery Facility.
• New markets have opened since the start of the Accord with 50% glass recovered now being used for new applications such as filtration, aggregate, construction etc.

Click here to download graphs showing mass balance over time

(1994 - 2008)