Residents are now able to recycle their Tetra Pak containers locally thanks to Wastebusters.

The recycling centre and zero-waste leader has added Tetra Pak and other similar containers to the materials it accepts for recycling following a successful trial earlier this year.

Used for various liquid products like non-dairy milks, chicken stock and juices, Tetra Pak consists of various layers of material, made up of 70 percent paperboard, 25 percent plastic and five percent aluminium foil, making it difficult to recycle.

It is not possible to have Tetra Pak recycled via Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) kerbside recycling.

But locally collected Tetra Pak can now receive a new life: Wastebusters is sending the Tetra Pak it collects to Hamilton where it is made into ‘saveBOARD’, a construction material for ceilings, internal walls and roofing substrate.

The material is being sent to Hamilton to be reused as ‘saveBOARD, a construction material.

The trial has already saved over 1.5 tonnes of Tetra Pak material from landfill - equivalent to the packaging from 204,082 soy lattes, Wastebusters communications manager Gina Dempster said.

Gina said although there is now a recycling solution for Tetra Pak, Wastebusters still encourages people to avoid packaging where they can, for example by making their own stock or plant milks. 

“Recycling is better than sending packaging to landfill, but the first question is always whether we can avoid having to use the packaging in the first place,” she said.

The liquid paperboard cartons will be accepted both through Wastebusters’ business recycling collections and at Wastebusters on-site recycling drop-offs.

Anyone recycling Tetra Pak with Wastebusters should cut the product along the top and side, open them flat and wash them clean.

Unlike other recyclable bottles and containers, you can leave the lids on your Tetra Pak cartons, as the plastic lids help the compressed cartons bond together in the saveBOARD manufacturing process.

Wastebusters was set up in Wānaka in 2000 with a mission to work towards zero waste. See the full list of the products it collects for recycling here.

PHOTOS: Wastebusters