We may be perceived as clean and green by the rest of the world, but we do have some issues in New Zealand. We discard 15.5 million tonnes of waste each year. That is 3,200kg for every kiwi and right now we only recycle 28% of this waste. Approximately 252,000 tonnes of plastic waste is disposed off to NZ landfills each year, enough reason for us to change to glass bottles as a first move in our sustainability journey. We're also happy to announce we now work together with BMW NZ, the worlds most sustainable car company, as we travel around New Zealand meeting with our supply chain to understand and off set our carbon emissions.

Now we have introduced our Ārepa v2 glass bottles, it's time to ask you to help us, as we would love to share the responsibility of leaving a better planet for future generations. New Zealand is hoping to move closer to 84% of glass bottles and jars being recycled in New Zealand by 2024. The reason we haven't reached the 84% yet, is too many of us are putting the wrong things or the wrong glass in our wheelie bins or kerbside boxes, because we don’t fully understand the glass recycling rules.

Glass bottles and jars, yes. Pretty much everything else, no. That includes window glass, broken wine and drinking glasses, pyrex and other ovenware, mirror glass, windscreen glass and most other forms of glass – because they are formed from a different chemical base and can’t be recycled back into bottles and jars. The problem caused – mainly by the wrong type of glass placed in recycling containers – is one of contamination. If bottles and jars are mixed with contaminated glass, they can’t be easily recycled or recycled at all. 

There are some general rules to help move the glass recycling needle closer to 84% by 2024 and, eventually, towards 100% :
• Take the caps off your bottles
• Recycle only bottles and jars
• No ceramics
• No light bulbs
• No window glass
• No pyrex or ovenware
• No microwave glass
• No mirror glass
• No drinking glasses, including wine glasses

When in doubt, have a look at your council’s website and read the instructions. Councils have got a really good handle on recycling these days and there is usually lots of information available.

Lastly, here at Ārepa we try to upcycle before we recycle, so we love how our Neuroberry jarsmake for a great vase too. And while our drink bottles don't hold a big bouquet they can be used as little vases for a couple of flowers as well. Some of you might be using Ārepa capsules and after a good clean, these jars make for great cosmetic jars too! Have you been upcycling Ārepa? We would love to hear about it!