Econation Blog

The triangular-arrows symbol on plastic containers that suggests they are recyclable is misleading, says Recyclers of New Zealand (RONZ). They say that in many cases such containers are not recyclable.

The international plastics industry uses the universally recognised triangular recycling symbol with a centrally-placed number - one to seven - which signify the industry resin-code numbering system.

But the symbols do not represent recyclability. The SPI codes one to six are specific as to their base resin, and code seven meant the material could be anything else or combinations of any number of the resins. Manufacturers may also add other plastic and non-plastic materials to the base resin to give the finished material certain performance characteristics. This means that plastics which are marked as recyclable have no prospect of being recycled.

RONZ Executive director Bruce Gledhill said RONZ tries to convince brand owners of the need to validate their claims for New Zealand.

"RONZ advocates for the labelling laws to incorporate mandatory use of a series of recycling symbols that are appropriate and validated in the New Zealand context. Manufacturers and retailers should verify that their product can actually be recycled before using such claims."

RONZ has suggested providing more information with the arrow symbols. An E could be used to show the material was suitable as an energy source, an M for those suitable for recovery of their material value, and an X for products that should not enter the recycling stream because of hazard risks.

Paul Curtis, executive director of the Packaging Council of New Zealand, agreed the resin codes on plastic packaging "fell short of what was desirable". He said the problem was exacerbated by the differing recycling practices of local councils.
In Auckland and Christchurch the councils collected codes one to seven plastics, but in Wellington only codes one and two were collected.

That meant a countrywide code would not be practical, he said.

Mr Curtis said the key was for councils to collaborate to collect greater volumes of plastic types for which markets could be found.

For a description of the seven plastic types click here>>