What is the Taranaki Milk Tops Challenge (Te Taki Taupoki Miraka o Taranaki)?
This Challenge encourages households to collect their milk bottle tops so they can be recycled and kept out of landfill. Selected schools and kura across Taranaki (South Taranaki, Stratford and New Plymouth District Councils) are participating in this Challenge. For all of term 2, students and their whānau will be asked to separate and collect milk bottle tops at home and bring them into their school.
Why are tops and lids not accepted in kerbside recycling?
Removing lids from bottles and containers became a requirement for all kerbside collections across Aotearoa in February 2024.
When tops or lids are left on bottles and containers and put in the recycling bin, it contaminates the bin, meaning the whole bottle or container, or even the whole bin can end up in landfill. This is because the people sorting at the recycling centre cannot be sure they are empty and clean, and it is a health and safety risk to open closed bottles and containers. Lids and tops are often too small to go through the recycling reprocessing equipment and can become stuck, damaging the machines.
What tops are accepted for this Challenge?
Milk tops are a special kind of plastic that are already being collected and recycled in Taranaki at The Junction Zero Waste Hub in New Plymouth and Egmont Refuse and Recycling in Hāwera.
Accepted
- Standard size tops that would be found on a 1,2, or 3 litre bottle
- All coloured tops from dairy milk and cream bottles, and other bottles like Primo, Mammoth etc.
- Boring Oat Milk, Little Island Milk and other alternative options that come in bottles
Not accepted
- Boxed / Tetra Pak milk tops (e.g. So Good, Vitasoy)
- Juice tops
- Soft drink bottle tops
Why is the challenge not available to all schools?
We have selected schools across particular suburbs to see what kind of impact the Challenge has on reducing contamination in recycling bins caused by tops. If this trial is successful, it may be expanded to other areas of Ngāmotu in future.
If you are interested in finding out more about the results of the trial, or would like your school or kura to participate in any future Challenge, please email sustainability@npdc.govt.nz
