It's time to break up with the trash in your life

Published on 14 March 2022

Palmy residents are being asked how they can break up with the trash in their lives.

A campaign encouraging residents to find more ways to reduce or reuse items will be underway for the next two months, focusing on easy switches people can make to better look after our environment. This includes switching to beeswax wraps, reusable produce bags, bento-style lunchboxes, reusable coffee cups, metal straws, and looking at options to cut other waste like making your own yoghurt compared to pottle yoghurts which aren’t recyclable.

Acting Resource Recovery Manager Bryce Hosking says every year Palmy sends just over 45,000 tonnes of waste to landfill. Almost half (48%) could have been reused, recovered, recycled or composted instead.

“We really want to encourage people to make small steps that collectively can make a difference to our Palmy’s environmental footprint. We know that making some switches for greener alternatives can more time and money to buy reusable options for new things, so that is why we are suggesting small easy switches that could be phased in over time."

Mr Hosking is encouraging people to visit the rubbish and recycling section on our website which has a range of information about how to reduce waste. This includes topics like the ones listed below.

Reducing waste

Reducing waste around your home and while you are out, reducing garden and food waste, our guide to Palmy thrift shops, making your own compost and what shops allow you to refill your drink bottle when you are out, community gardens and Palmy’s waste warriors. 

Our advanced recycling services

Information about our garden waste, electronic waste, battery, cooking oil, motor oil and car seat recycling. 

Plastics overview

What the different plastic numbers mean, what we collect and the difference between biodegradable and compostable. 

Waste overview

This is an education resource section including facts and figures about Palmy’s waste situation, what the council is doing about waste, what the government is doing about waste, and where your recycling goes once it has been collected. 

Getting involved

We’ve created two new forms. The first is to book recycling bins for your events. The second is a form where you can register interest in having a community clean up where we can show potential locations and supply gloves, rubbish bags and disposal.  

During the campaign, we had planned on having public open days of our recycling centre, but we can’t do that while we are in the red or orange traffic light setting.

We’re also going to be supplying information to schools and kindergartens about how they can help encourage more environmentally friendly choices between students and their parents. We’ll also be asking them to register their interest in visits to our recycling centre once we are back in the ‘green’ setting.

To find out more about how you can break up with the trash in your life, head to pncc.govt.nz/rubbishandrecycling.