What happens to the items we recycle?
Paper and box-board/thin cardboard
Paper is sorted by colour and grade and baled in Christchurch before being shipped overseas. There, it is de-inked (currently, New Zealand does not have equipment to remove printing inks from the paper) and made into newspapers and other recycled paper grades.
Corrugated cardboard
Cardboard is baled and sent either to Kinleith in the North Island or else overseas for remaking into cardboard boxes.
Toner and ink cartridges
Ricoh (the University's supplier for photocopiers and printers) sends all used toner cartridges to the Toner Recycling Centre in Auckland. There they are sorted and cleaned. Metal from the cartridges is sold and plastic tubes and bottles are processed in Auckland into carpet roll cores. Other plastics are sorted and granulated then sold to plastic buyers either within NZ or overseas, depending on markets.
Food Waste
Food scraps were previously composted in the University's Community Garden.However, since late 2009 food scraps from the campus have been going to the main city compost plant in Bromley because food volumes were becoming too large for the community garden to deal with. Larger on-site composting options are being investigated.
Glass bottles and jars
Glass is sorted by colour at the City Council's CCC2 mixed recycling facility then crushed and screened for use locally in: sandblasting; water filtration; asphalt and concrete additives; artwork; landscaping; glass flooring and glass tile production. Surplus glass is sent to Auckland for recycling into new bottles and jars.
Aluminium and steel cans
Cans are sorted and baled locally then exported overseas. Aluminium is recycled into a range of products including drink cans, while steel cans are recycled into items like fencing wire and reinforcing bars.
Plastic containers
After being initially sorted at the CCC2 mixed recycling facility, no. 1 plastics (mostly soft drink bottles) and no. 2 plastics (e.g. plastic milk bottles) are cleaned and chipped by Mastagard in Christchurch. No. 1 plastic granules are then sold internationally, mainly to China for recycling into fibre such as carpets and polar fleece. Plastic no. 2 is sold to various buyers in NZ and internationally for manufacturing into products like recycling bins, ducting, and irrigation pipes. Most plastic containers labelled 3-7 are baled by Mastagard as mixed plastic and sold internationally for further sorting and remanufacturing.
The picnic table set in our campus community garden off Engineering Rd is made from recycled plastic!
Expanded
polystyrene
This type of plastic is compacted into blocks locally and then shipped overseas for remanufacturing into new products such as bathroom fittings.
Computer and electrical equipment
Most live and dead equipment go to local organisations for reuse or recycling. Selected computer equipment goes to Tonga as part of the work of ECOCARE Pacific Trust.
Batteries
New Zealand does not have any battery-recycling facilities. Batteries are collected by a contractor and exported to the Kobar battery recycling facility in South Korea. Batteries are dismantled into their component parts and put through a distillation and furnacing process to recover the metals. Recovered cadmium is reused by battery manufacturers. Because it is uneconomic to separate the iron and nickel, this is melted down into ferro-nickel ingots which are used by the stainless steel industry. Plastic and cell casings are onsold to special recyclers. Kobar has been authorised and approved by the South Korean government as an environmentally sound company.
Rubbish - waste to Landfill
Everything that is put in a rubbish bin gets dumped into the landfill at Kate Valley.