Recycle your soft plastics using pre-paid courier bags
Our pre-paid courier bags make it easy to recycle your household soft plastics, like bread and produce bags, bubble wrap and frozen food packaging.
Recycle your soft plastics using pre-paid courier bags
Our pre-paid courier bags make it easy to recycle your household soft plastics, like bread and produce bags, bubble wrap and frozen food packaging.
Step 1: Organise
Wash & dry your soft plastic.
Step 2: Pack
Fill your bag with clean soft plastic and seal when full.
Step 3: Send
Book a free courier pickup, or drop off at your local NZ Post store.
Step 4: Renew
Your soft plastics will be transformed into long-life products.
What is soft plastic, and what can I put in my pre-paid recycling bag?
Things like bread bags, courier bags, bubble wrap, pet food bags, produce and frozen food bags, toilet paper bags, cereal bags. Unsure? Take the scrunch/squeeze test – scrunch/squeeze your plastic up, and if it doesn’t bounce back to its shape, we can take it.
Where can I purchase a pre-paid Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bag?
Our Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bags are available for purchase online. You can also find them at select NZ Post stores and New World, The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery outlets.
Find Soft Plastic Recycle Courier Bags at these locations
NZ Post
NZ Post online shop
Ellerslie (Auckland)
Newmarket (Auckland)
Hardinge St (Auckland central)
Johnsonville (Wellington)
Timaru
New World
Taumarunui
Broadway (Palmerston North)
Pioneer (Palmerston North)
The Warehouse Group
The Warehouse stores nationwide
The Warehouse online store
Warehouse Stationery stores nationwide
Warehouse Stationery online store
The Market
What happens to my soft plastic?
Give your soft plastics another life! The cost of your $7 bag includes courier collection, and your plastic will be transformed into fence posts, planter boxes and more.
Delivering for good
Read more about all the ways we're taking action to reduce our negative impact on the planet and maximise our positive impact in our communities.
Our partnerships
We’ve partnered with The Packaging Forum and Future Post to give your soft plastics another life.
Frequently asked questions
The programme takes all soft plastics including:
- bread bags
- produce & frozen food bags
- chip bags
- pasta and rice bags
- confectionery and biscuit wrap
- squeeze pouches
- shopping bags
- toilet paper packaging
- sanitary hygiene packaging
- courier bags – including NZ Post bags
- bubble wrap
If you’re unsure, take the scrunch/squeeze test – scrunch/squeeze your plastic up, and if it doesn’t bounce back to its shape, we can take it. For more information, click here.
No, contamination is a really big problem. These materials are not permitted:
- heavily soiled soft plastic
- hard plastics such as meat trays, biscuit trays and bottles
- compostable packaging
- face masks
- disposable gloves
- coffee cups
- metal cans, tins and lids
- paper or cardboard
- reusable shopping bags
When purchasing a pre-paid Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bag, you have already paid for a courier pick-up. Simply book a courier online, and we’ll collect your pre-paid Soft Plastic Recycle Courier Bag. However, you can also drop your pre-paid Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bag into any NZ Post store nationwide.
No. This pre-paid Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bag is only eligible for returning soft plastics which will automatically be sent to the soft plastic collection point.
The soft plastic is consolidated and bundled up ready to send off to Future Post, who turn your soft plastic into fence posts – used on farms, parks, gardens and wineries around NZ.
Fence posts, gate posts, letter box posts, flower beds, and more!
Not all Kiwis have access to a local soft plastic collection bin, or they’re unable to easily drop their soft plastics off.
This trial has been set up with ease and access in mind. For NZ Post, this is not a profit-making exercise. The cost of the bag covers all the operational costs – from the production of the courier bag, to collection and transportation and the handling of the soft plastics to Future Post.
We thought about this a lot and tried to ensure we minimised the environmental impact as much as possible. The pre-paid Soft Plastic Recycle Courier bag is made from 80% recycled plastic. It holds up to three weeks’ worth of soft plastic waste for the average household.