Reclaim’s new food waste and certified compostable packaging collection

We are thrilled to announce that Reclaim is now offering a new food organics recycling (composting) service for paper towels and certified compostable products. The service is currently servicing Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Certified compostable packaging allows for the maximum recovery of food scraps where, unlike plastics recycling, there is no rinsing; the container and the food are composted industrially—used as organic inputs to create compost.

Our products and others, certified to globally accepted Standards, are a circular solution. We spoke with Nathalia Gonzales, Sustainability Manager of Reclaim, who shares insights into Reclaims’ new service spearheading value creation opportunities in a world looking for circular, healthier planet-forward solutions.

Why this service and now?

Gonzales: Reclaim has been accepting compostables in our food waste service for several years. Commercially compostable materials are combined with food scraps and taken to a local composting facility, which turns this material into compost, which is then used in agriculture and gardens around Aotearoa, New Zealand. With a noticeable shift in the number of compostable packaging in circulation, Reclaim is highlighting this diversion opportunity to make it easier and simpler for more businesses to achieve better diversion rates when it comes to compostables.

Mandates for businesses to separate food waste have been delayed until 2030, but what demand are you observing for separate collections, say, over the last 24 months?

Gonzales: With the rollout of residential food waste capture systems in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, we have noticed a change in appetite and demand for food waste diversion solutions across businesses. This is a positive shift as more businesses get serious about waste minimisation.

Would you say businesses are taking more ownership of the waste they produce? Are mandatory climate disclosures or voluntary certifications such as B Corp or carbon accredited driving demand for your services?

Gonzales: It is hard to tell what the key drivers of demand are and what level of ownership is observed regarding waste matters. More and more businesses are considering sustainability and seeking certifications to support their positioning. With that in mind, more waste minimisation and education are also being sought.

The future of convenience

We can still enjoy convenience, but we must align our systems with nature to ensure the products we use have a more temporary impact. Reclaim’s new service is one example of an easily accessible system of recovery, transformation, and repurposing of resources that will ensure we can still grab lunch from the food hall but with reduced emissions and impact.

About Reclaim

We believe business can be done better, and so does Reclaim. For 50 years, this company has led Aotearoa, New Zealand's commercial sector, towards circularity and waste minimisation, diverting over four million tonnes of recyclable materials from landfills. The planet has boundaries; we cannot continue using our limited natural resources like there is no tomorrow. Resources were extracted, and emissions were generated to get your coffee to you and the cup that held it. By composting, we are keeping resources in circulation and in use for longer; the packaging materials are in use temporarily and, in 180 days, would have biodegraded, creating carbon dioxide, water and humus (a soil nutrient). The expansion of Reclaim’s service for certified compostable materials is giving the potential to create value from these products that would otherwise end up landfilled whilst also emphasising the circular nature of certified compostable material. All recyclable materials that Reclaim collects get recycled and diverted from landfill.

Are you ready to make the world a better place?

Our nutrient-based packaging, made from abundant and renewable plant materials, can be returned to the earth and used within the soil ecosystem, representing an infinite lifecycle. If you use our packaging or just see a lot of it at your place of business because your employees eat lunch out of it, get the packaging and the food scraps where they need to be. 

Get in touch with Reclaim to discuss your needs.

tracey@ecoware.co.nz, who can advise you on the collection options that are available to you.