Understanding the origins of plastic pollution is required to appreciate the plastic issue. 99% of plastics are derived from fossil fuels. Ethylene—the building block of most single-use plastic is still, in relative terms, cheap to produce. Most of the plastic wrap around toilet paper and paper towels is made from film plastic, usually low-density polypropylene or LDPE plastic number. 4. Although often marked with chasing arrows or a recycling symbol, much of the plastics in Aotearoa are not recycled. 

According to this report, Reducing the impact of plastic on our environment published by the Ministry for the Environment, plastic collected for recycling is roughly 45,000 tonnes, and 90 percent of that recycling is exported. However, much of the plastic we put out for recycling is landfilled—380,000 tonnes of it where sits for hundreds of years, emitting methane, which is terrible for the planet. And considering that only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled globally, recycling is ineffective. 

Collection is not the same as circularity 

Australia's REDcycle collapse highlighted the fragility of soft plastics recovery systems. The scheme was suspended in 2022 after significant stockpiling was discovered, and the company entered insolvency in 2023. The experience demonstrated that collecting soft plastics at scale is only one part of the challenge; creating viable end markets is another.

While Aotearoa New Zealand continues to operate a soft plastics collection programme, the scale of the challenge remains significant. Collection schemes recover only a fraction of the soft plastics placed on the market each year, and many soft plastic products still have no viable recycling pathway. Even where collection exists, questions remain regarding circularity, material recovery rates and whether collected plastics are ultimately returned to equivalent packaging applications.

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In the most recent report from the panel convened by the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, ‘Rethinking plastics in Aotearoa’ on page 126, we find:

“At present, there are some mechanical recycling solutions for soft plastics collected in the Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme that mix these materials with HDPE (#2) to form new products, such as fence posts. Soft plastics are the filler for these new materials – it is not a circular solution.”

New Zealand is one of the world’s most wasteful countries. It is estimated that in Aotearoa, we throw away an estimated 159g of plastic waste per person per day. Future Post founder Jerome Wenzlick said the company processes around 70 tonnes of soft plastics every month—the equivalent of 10 million bread bags, chip packets, frozen food bags or toilet roll wrappers. Those figures are insane.

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Why packaging matters

No packaging system is perfect. However, when alternatives exist, we believe it is worth considering whether products should rely on specialised recovery schemes or materials that can be managed through existing infrastructure available to most households. We wanted to minimise the amount of packaging required while prioritising materials that could be recovered through existing kerbside systems.

EcoRoll toilet paper is delivered in FSC® MIX certified cardboard cartons sealed with paper tape. We do not include printed invoices — these are electronically delivered to inboxes. These decisions may seem small in isolation, but they help reduce reliance on unnecessary plastic packaging and support the use of materials that are widely accepted through the nations’ recycling systems.