Mitre 10 starts roll-out of Pot Recycle

Mitre 10 New Zealand has announced the nationwide roll-out of Pot Recycle, a closed-loop solution that stops garden pots ending up in landfill and reduces the amount of new plastic used to make plant and seedling pots. The launch of Pot Recycle, which follows a three-month pilot, accepts washed plant and seedling pots and plant labels made of plastic ID 5 (polypropylene). The pots need to be free from dirt or rubbish to avoid contaminating the recycling process. Mitre 10 aims to achieve a 20 per cent return rate, equivalent to a recycling volume of 184 t annually within the first 12 months of the national roll-out, and to minimise the volume unable to be recycled due to contamination.
To participate, customers can wash and return their clean pots to the Pot Recycle collection crates at any of the co-operative's 84 stores. They are then shredded and melted into resin by recycling partners Pact Group and Recycling Group, before being remoulded into new pots and re-planted by Zealandia Horticulture, Mitre 10's supplier partner, creating a closed-loop system.
New Zealand has seen a renaissance in gardening on the back of the pandemic, with Mitre 10 selling more than 11 million plant and seedling pots every year. Most councils, however, do not accept them in kerbside recycling as they're often contaminated with dirt.