A new recycling scheme has launched today. 

Developed by the Packaging Forum, it aims to capture and recycle the myriad of plastic and metal caps and lids that currently make their way to landfill.  

Approximately 16,000 tonnes of caps and lids are in circulation annually, the equivalent of approximately 900 trucks of waste. 

Collection boxes will be placed in supermarkets in Auckland, Christchurch, and Tauranga, with more to be added in coming weeks. 

Packaging Forum CEO Rob Langford told Kerre Woodham the metal lids will be sold to metal recyclers across the country, the money then going to the Lions Foundation’s KanTabs programme to support kids with cancer. 

The plastic, he said, will be prepackaged in Auckland before it’s shipped over to Australia for processing, with the aim of collecting enough that processing can be moved back to New Zealand. 

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