Where Wellington's recycling goes

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Good to see some information about where so called "recycled materials" are going in NZ.

In this RNZ article  a list if provided of what happens to stuff from Wellington. Still pretty shocking to see plastics 3 – 7 are still going to Asia. We have to stop doing this.

Where Wellington's recycling ends up

  • Aluminium and steel cans go to Macaulay Metals and are then sent overseas to be reprocessed.
  • Glass is mixed with other raw materials and fed into a furnace where it is melted down to make bottles and jars.
  • Paper goes to the Oji Fibre Solutions mill in Penrose, Auckland (this mill uses 100 percent recovered paper to make corrugated cardboard).
  • Cardboard goes to the Oji Fibre Solutions mill in Kinleith, Tokoroa (this mill uses recycled cardboard and new wood fibres to make new cardboard).
  • Clear PET (grade one) goes to Flight Plastics in Lower Hutt.
  • Most milk bottles go to Budget Plastics in Palmerston North.
  • Most other mixed plastics are sent to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Source: Wellington City Council and Oji Fibre Solutions

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