1. Recycling bins in NZ
By T.T and Jamie

2. What happens to plastic?
After being initially sorted at the CCC2 mixed recycling facility, no. 1 plastics (mostly soft drink bottles) and no. 2 plastics (e.g. plastic milk bottles) are cleaned and chipped by Mastagard in Christchurch. No. 1 plastic granules are then sold internationally, mainly to China for recycling into fibre such as carpets and polar fleece. Plastic no. 2 is sold to various buyers in NZ and internationally for manufacturing into products like recycling bins, ducting, and irrigation pipes. Most plastic containers labelled 3-7 are baled by Mastagard as mixed plastic and sold internationally.

3. What happens to glass?
The colour sorted glass goes to O-I New Zealand, in Auckland. The glass is then mixed with other raw materials and fed into a furnace where it is melted down to make bottles and jars.

4. What happens to paper and cardboards?`
Paper is sorted by colour and grade and baled in Christchurch before being shipped overseas. There, it is de-inked (currently, New Zealand does not have equipment to remove printing inks from the paper) Paper sorting facility in nz and made into newspapers and other recycled paper grades.

5. What happens to batteries?
New Zealand does not have any battery-recycling facilities. Batteries are collected by a contractor and exported to the Kobar battery recycling facility in South Korea. Batteries are dismantled into their component parts and put through a distillation and furnacing process to recover the metals. Recovered cadmium is reused by battery manufacturers. Because it is uneconomic to separate the iron and nickel, this is melted down into ferro-nickel ingots which are used by the stainless steel industry. Plastic and cell casings are on sold to special recyclers. Kobar has been authorised and approved by the South Korean government as an environmentally sound company.

6. What happens to Aluminum and cans?
Cans are sorted and baled locally then exported overseas. Aluminium is recycled into a range of products including drink cans, while steel cans are recycled into items like fencing wire and reinforcing bars.

7. Conclusion
Conclusion:What we have been writing about was a project for our waste not want not inquiry that we have been studying. It shows how much we waste and throw away. So i encourage you to recycle and to make the world a better place.

8. Bibliography