Many Kiwis still think our recycling ends up in landfill.

So I'm determined to find the real story of what happens here in Aotearoa. Let's take a look at the Food and Beverage carton recycling scheme. As of February 1st 2024, in New Zealand no Food and Beverage cartons are able to be put into kerbside recycling bins, but, there are select drop off points all over the country for them to be collected. I've always been skeptical about what actually happens to them, so I went on a mission to get the full story and see what happens with my own eyes. I’ll show you the journey from the drop-off bins to transformation, including how cartons are sorted, baled, and sent to specialist recycling facilities to be given a second life. The majority of the material collected through the Scheme is sent to saveBOARD in Kirikiriroa Hamilton; however, a small proportion is sent to pulp mills offshore to recover the Fibre, the Polyethylene and the Aluminium, which are the ingredients of food and beverage cartons, where they are used in a variety of second life applications.​

Watch the full journey and see what really happens after recycling leaves your kerbside.