What do the plastic recycling numbers mean?

1. Overview

When you buy something in plastic, it should have a triangle with a number inside it. This indicates what type of plastic it is, and helps us to determine what can and can't be recycled. In Palmy, we only collect plastic numbers 1, 2 and 5.

It can be really hard to tell from holding an item what it's made of, and we know that can make recycling very confusing – but we love that you've come to this page to find out how to do the right thing.

Click 'Next' for a brief explanation of what the numbers are, what plastic materials they are, and what common items you use might be made of them. It also says where they currently go once we've emptied your wheelie bin.

Glass that once contained food or drink, aluminium, tin, paper and cardboard are all sorted at our Awapuni Resource Recovery Centre and recycled here in NZ.

2. Recycle plastic numbers 1, 2 and 5

Put items with these numbers in your orange-lid wheelie bin, or drop them off at one of our recycling centres.

Number 1: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

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Collected, sorted at our Awapuni Resource Recovery Centre and then recycled in NZ.

Items include:

  • fruit and vege punnets
  • soft drink and water bottles
  • harder plastic containers that hold spreads like peanut butter and mayonnaise.

Number 2: High-density polyethylene (HDPE) 

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Collected, sorted at our Awapuni Resource Recovery Centre and then recycled in Palmy.

  • milk bottles
  • juice bottles
  • shampoo bottles
  • cleaning bottles.

Number 5: Polypropylene (PP) 

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Collected, sorted at our Awapuni Resource Recovery Centre and then recycled in Palmy.

  • some takeaway containers
  • plastic cutlery
  • 2l ice cream containers
  • large yoghurt containers.

3. Numbers 3, 4, 6 and 7 not accepted for recycling

We can't recycle plastic with the numbers 3, 4, 6 or 7. Please put items with these numbers in your rubbish bag.

Number 3: Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) 

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We can't recycle plastic with this number and don't collect it. Please place in your rubbish bag instead.

Items include:

  • clear trays for holding food or takeaways
  • some large containers with sturdy handles
  • plastic containers used for storing or packaging things like batteries or electronics.

Number 4: Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) 

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We can't recycle plastic with this number and don't collect it. Please place in your rubbish bag instead.

  • some meat trays and takeaway containers
  • single use plastic bags
  • bubble wrap
  • plastic wrap.

Number 6: Polystyrene (PS/EPS) 

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We don't collect plastic with this recycling number however we now provide a paid drop-off service for polystyrene packaging. For other types of polystyrene, please place in your rubbish bag instead.

  • 6pk yoghurt pottles
  • some meat trays
  • foam cups
  • protective packaging.

Number 7: Other plastics

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This is a mix of different plastics, including BPA, polycarbonate, acrylic, nylon, polylactic fibres and fibreglass. We can't recycle these items and don't collect them. Please place in your rubbish bag instead.

  • baby bottles and sippy cups
  • CDs
  • plastic toys
  • packaging for some food and electronics.