Plastic cotton buds, polystyrene takeaway containers and some plastic meat trays - they'll all be illegal from Saturday.
The Government's rolling out the next stage in its ban on the sale and manufacture of single-use plastics, but Newshub discovered several Auckland takeaway joints had no idea.
Auckland's Dominion Road is bending to the will of Environment Minister David Parker.
"The next things to be going are the likes of polystyrene burger containers."
Not just burgers - noodles, soups and dumplings that still get sent away in a polystyrene container are banned from tomorrow.
Newshub asked a regular Jamie Jiang at Chongqing Noodles to translate the news to the restaurant's owner.
"He doesn't know at all."
"So nobody informed all the business owners?" Newshub asked.
"At least for him, he doesn't know and for me, as a customer, I didn't know either," Jiang responded.
Owner Yin Jian Bo said he'll adhere to the new rules though cardboard packaging costs a bit more.
"That will impact his business because right now everyone, it's pretty tough since the COVID started."
But shifting behaviour is critical. On average, each one of us sends 750 kilograms of waste every year.
From tomorrow the following single-use plastics will be banned:
- Plastic drink stirrers
- Plastic cotton buds
- PVC trays and containers - mostly used for meat
- Polystyrene takeaway packaging
- Products with additives that make them break down into microplastics
On Dominion Road a number of takeaway joints are already moving in the right direction.
Dumplings Newshub purchased came in recyclable plastic but some habits still need breaking. Single-use plastic bags have been banned since 2019.
There are some exclusions, like the polystyrene chilly bins that keep fish cool.
The Government's aim is to streamline the plastic that we use into types that can be recycled.
"Sometimes you still need plastics and in that case we're making sure that the plastics we use are recyclable so we're banning some forms of plastic that contaminate recyclables," said Parker.
The Government's also standardising curbside pick-up, so you know the plastic you put in the recycling will actually be recycled.
The ban doesn't affect so-called "compostable plastics" which often end up in landfill, so avoiding those is recommended.
"Some compostable plastics can only be composted at a very high heat in a commercial compost facility."
Next year single-use plastic plates, cutlery, straws and fruit labels will be phased out.
For Chongqing Noodle, these can be used to store food but there's no more sending them out the door.
