Recycling guide

In response to a letter last week entitled ‘‘Recycling Doubts’’, misunderstanding or misinformation is a result of multiple opinions from multiple sources and it makes it very difficult for residents to know what is correct.

So I will try to make it clear for residents of the main Canterbury council areas surrounding greater Christchurch. These are the areas EcoCentral processess yellow bin recycling for.

Plastic recycling is one that seems to create the most confusion. Any soft plastics, bags or ‘scrunchable’ types belong in the red bin. Only clean rigid bottles and containers, plastics type 1, type 2 (milk bottles) and type 5 (ice cream containers) are accepted in the yellow bin, the rest go in the red bin.

All plastic container lids and small pieces of paper (or anything smaller than your open hand) are not recyclable because they are too small for the machinery to process.

Sorted recycled paper is baled and stored prior to being exported in containers.

For the latest information visit www. ecocentral.co.nz.

Craig Downie, chief executive EcoCentral