Soft plastics recycling trial coming to Palmerston North in July
Published on 19 February 2026
Soft plastics recycling is set to come to Palmerston North, with Council's Community Resilience and Sustainability Committee unanimously agreeing yesterday to progress a trial.
The proposal will go to full Council for final approval. Once that is confirmed, the 12 month trial will begin in July, with free drop off points available across the city.
Committee Chair Councillor Lorna Johnson says the decision reflects strong community interest.
“Our community has been asking for this for years and I know they’ll really value us putting it into action. It’s a trial, so we can test it and see how it’s taken up. Similar programmes have worked well in other parts of the country, and this trial gives people a practical way to keep more waste out of landfill.”
The trial would accept everyday household soft plastic packaging such as bread bags, chip packets, frozen food wrappers and shopping bags. As a general guide, if it can be scrunched into a ball, it is likely to be eligible.
Delivered in partnership with the Packaging Forum’s Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme New Zealand, the material collected will be recycled within New Zealand into new products, supporting a circular economy.
The trial requires a capital investment of $82,600 for a storage shed at Awapuni Resource Recovery Park, along with an annual net operating cost of $28,000. The shed will be funded through existing budgets, so there will be no additional impact on rates for this capital cost. If the trial does not continue beyond 12 months, the shed will be repurposed.
Elected members agreed the environmental benefits and strong community support make the trial worth exploring.
A reminder that the trial has not started yet and remains subject to full Council approval. Soft plastics should not be taken to drop-off locations until the trial launches in July. Items must also never be placed in kerbside recycling bins and should only be taken to participating locations, once the trial begins.
We'll share more details, including confirmed locations and accepted items, closer to the launch.