Most kerbside collections of waste materials in New Zealand cater for household waste. Although many businesses produce the same type of recyclables (paper and cardboard, steel and aluminium, glass and plastics), they are often produced in larger quantities that can not be handled by kerbside collections.

Reduce your organisation's waste removal costs

Businesses may rent skips for waste disposal, and pay high prices for the disposal of these materials to landfill. In many instances, the business has paid to bring the product on site, and they pay again to store and remove it.

Commercial recycling offers many opportunities for businesses to rethink waste management. Rather than putting mixed materials into one skip, businesses can separate at source to recover resources for resale, re-use, recycling or composting. The use of council by-laws, such as in the Timaru District may even prohibit recyclable or organic waste from going to landfill.

Commercial plastic film or shrink and shroud wrap makes up 60% of all recycled plastics in New Zealand. Most businesses have products delivered wrapped in plastic film. Because it is usually clean it is a great material to recycle. LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE and PP films are those most commonly recycled.

Responsibility

Businesses have a responsibility to reduce their waste at the source but also to dispose of it in a way that reduces their impact on the environment. Taking this on board as part of your businesses environmental and social responsibility can then be communicated to customers and potential customers to show your acknowledgement of this importance. 70% of New Zealand consumers look at a company's environmental claims to ensure choices are environmentally/animal friendly. This shows there are big opportunities for businesses and brands that respond to consumer needs to have a ‘planet positive’ impact (from Better Futures 2020 Report).

Commercial Recycling Options

As each local council will have different local waste collectors, the best way of finding commercial recyclers is by contacting your local government. Individual councils may offer website links or directories. For your council, if they are participants in the One Planet website, see the Council Services map on the One Planet home page.

A variety of recycling firms should be contacted to enquire about their services and charges. Collection frequency will need to be flexible at the outset as recycling volumes increase. Access to your building by service providers will need to be organised where materials are kept in a security area.

Traditional cleaning companies are beginning to compete in this area and can have the benefits of reducing the number of people having access to buildings and offering an all-in-one service.

Resources

Plastics NZ Commercial Recycling

Business Recycling Info