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Waste FAQs

25 September 2023

From the environmental impacts of waste to how to sort your recycling, check out our waste FAQs.

HOW TO APPLY
What is accepted in the yellow Recycling | Hangarua bins at UC?
 

From 1 February 2024, materials collected for recycling will be standardised across New Zealand. 

Only these things will be recycled:

  • Empty plastic bottles, clear plastic trays and plastic containers numbered 1, 2 and 5 only
  • Empty tins and cans
  • Clean paper and cardboard
  • Empty glass bottles and jars
  • Empty pizza boxes

If your item does not meet this criteria, it will need to be placed in the red Landfill | Para bins. If your item is food, food scraps, or another type of organic material (eg. coffee grounds) this can be placed in the green Organics | Tipu ā nuku, Tipu ā rangi bins.

What do I do if I am disposing of an item that I am unsure about, or is not on the bin signgage?
 

Here is a list of common items. If your item does not appear on this list please contact the Sustainability Office.

See the what goes in what bin page or the composting at UC page for more information on how you can help us divert items from landfill.

ITEMINTRUCTIONS
BatteriesUse the battery recycling bin in your departmental resource room.
Takeaway packaging such as cups/plates/containers/cutlery - including those marked "compostable" or "bioplastic"Landfill | Para 
Organic material like food scraps, leftovers, coffee grounds and cut flowers Organics | Tipu ā nuku, Tipu ā rangi
Soiled paper and used napkins Landfill | Para 
Soft plastics - anything you can crunch in your hand Landfill | Para 
Pizza boxes (empty)Recycling | Hangarua 
Tea bags Landfill | Para 
Lids (all types) Landfill | Para 
Aerosol cansLandfill | Para 
Receipts and small scraps of paper (smaller than the palm of your hand)Landfill | Para 
Single use coffee cups and lidsLandfill | Para 
Envelopes Paper | Pepa OR Recycling | Hangarua 
LabelsLabels can be left on recyclables as they are usually removed in the cleaning process.
PaperClean: Paper | Pepa OR Recycling | Hangarua
Dirty/soiled/food stained: Landfill | Para
Toner cateridges Toner cartridges from printers, photocopiers and fax machines can be disposed of in the toner cartridge collections boxes which will generally be located in department’s resource room and/ or the computer technician area. 
Where does UC’s waste go when it is taken off campus?

UC has a contract with Envirowaste, who picks up the separate waste collections from UC and transports them to their plant in Bromley. From here the recycling and paper collections are further sorted into grades for best practice recycling. The Organics collection goes to Living Earth, and the Landfill rubbish goes to Christchurch’s main landfill at Kate Valley. 

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