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Taranaki Milk Top Challenge

Come on Stratford, lid's take out the trophy for 2025-26!

Stratford district schools are taking part in the regional Taranaki Milk Top Challenge to recycle milk and cream bottle lids. The competition is running now and closes on 30 June 2026.

Pesky little tops can't go in your home recycling bin. In fact, they're one of the most common contaminants in our kerbside recycling. The good news is, milk tops can be recycled and reused in Taranaki if you collect them separately and take them to a participating school.

Huiakama School winning the trophy in 2024

The challenge

Schools will be asking tamariki and their whānau to separate and collect milk bottle tops at home. The tops should be rinsed and brought into their school for collection.

Community members and local businesses can drop their own milk tops off at schools too, so if your school is taking part, make sure you spread the word. Look for the bright orange Mitre 10 buckets kindly donated by Mitre 10 Stratford, and drop your lids inside.

The Stratford district school that collects the highest number of lids for each whānau that attends their kura will win a prize. There are 2nd and 3rd place prizes too.

So, where does the trophy come in?

New Plymouth and South Taranaki district schools are collecting too. The school that collects the highest number of lids per student overall, will win the top recycling trophy for the whole region!

Since each district is running their own competitions differently, you might see some variation in the rules and prizes mentioned by schools in other areas. But hey, they can totally do their own thing. We know that the Taranaki trophy is ours. In fact, it was Huiakama School that took out the trophy last year!

What tops can be collected?

  • All coloured tops from 1,2 and 3 litre dairy milk and cream bottles
  • Tops from alternative milks that come in bottles, but not boxed/Tetra Pak tops

Please stick to your usual buying habits. Don’t be tempted to replace your 3 litre bottle with 3 x 1 litre bottles to collect more tops. There's less packaging in the 3 litre bottle and it's often cheaper, too.

Don't forget to wash your tops before you bring them in to your school.

Stratford district schools are also collecting other lids too

Some schools are also collecting jam jar lids, drink can tabs, wine bottle tops, and other metal lids to recycle at our metal recyclers. We've also got schools collecting lids from spreads and those pesky fizzy-drink bottles for a community art project. These great efforts to reduce waste are separate from the milk top challenge, so make sure you don't get your lids mixed up!

Mitre 10 branded bright orange lid with little cartoon milk top lids falling into it

Participating schools

Anyone can drop clean plastic milk and cream bottle lids (of any colour) off to one of these participating schools:

  • Huiakama School
  • Makahu School
  • Pembroke School
  • Taranaki Diocesan
  • Avon School
  • Avon Kindergarten
  • Stratford Community Childcare Centre
  • St Josephs Stratford
  • Stratford Primary

Look for a collection point at the school’s gate or visit the school’s reception area. Please be respectful and follow any rules for visitors if you’re on school grounds.

FAQs and T&Cs

This Challenge encourages households to collect their milk bottle tops so they can be recycled and kept out of landfill. Schools and kura across Taranaki (South Taranaki, Stratford, and New Plymouth District Councils) are participating in this Challenge. For all of term 2 students and their whānau will be asked to separate and collect milk bottle tops at home and bring them into their school.

In some districts, schools have been selected to take part. In Stratford district, all schools and kura can participate if they wish.

Removing lids from bottles and containers became a requirement for all kerbside collections across Aotearoa in February 2024.

When tops or lids are left on bottles and containers and put in the recycling bin, it contaminates the bin, meaning the whole bottle or container, or even the whole bin can end up in landfill. This is because the people sorting at the recycling centre cannot be sure they are empty and clean, and it is a health and safety risk to open closed bottles and containers. Lids and tops are also often too small to go through the recycling reprocessing equipment and can become stuck, damaging the machines.

Milk tops are a special kind of plastic that are already being collected and recycled in Taranaki at The Junction Zero Waste Hub in New Plymouth and Egmont Refuse and Recycling in Hāwera.

Accepted:

  • Standard size tops that would be found on a 1, 2, or 3 litre bottle
  • All coloured tops from dairy milk and cream bottles, and other bottles like Primo, Mammoth etc
  • Boring Oat, Little Island milk and other alternative milk options that come in bottles

Not accepted:

  • Boxed/Tetra Pak milk tops
  • Juice tops
  • Soft drink bottle tops

Some schools have chosen not to take part. Schools can join at any time, so if your school isn't on the list yet, have a chat with them about taking part.

Any interested schools should email WasteMinimisation@Stratford.govt.nz

Yes, please. Let your friend know it’ll help keep the school’s collection containers smelling nice and fresh.

Absolutely! Participating schools should all have easy to see collection points for community members to drop off their lids. If you don’t see one at the gate, visit the school reception. Please be respectful and follow any rules for visitors if you’re on school grounds.

The Government charges a levy on all waste disposed of through landfills across the country. Half of the money raised is distributed to territorial authorities, including the Stratford District Council, and this makes up our Waste Levy Fund. We use this fund to support events and initiatives that reduce waste, including contestable grants for community groups, and fun things like competitions and rewards if they align with our waste minimisation goals. This competition is supported by our Waste Levy Fund and is not ratepayer funded.

Reducing the number of lids contaminating recycling and going to landfill helps to reduce overall waste costs to residents and is great for the environment too.

Following the challenge, all the milk tops will go to Egmont Refuse & Recycling Ltd in Hāwera. The tops will get shredded into chips (not the yummy kind) which will be used to make new products.

If you need some info, please email WasteMinimisation@Stratford.govt.nz or call 06 765 6099.

Taranaki Milk Tops Challenge Terms and Conditions:

Stratford District Council (SDC) is running a competition called the Taranaki Milk Tops Challenge for schools and early childhood education centres (ECE) within the Stratford district.

The competition begins on 1 August 2025 and ends on 30 June.

The competition calls for schools and ECE to collect clean plastic milk and cream bottle lids of all colours from their school community.

To be entered into the competition, schools and ECE need to:

  1. Be within the Stratford district boundary
  2. Confirm their participation to SDC’s Waste & Water Education Officer by emailing WasteMinimisation@Stratford.govt.nz
  3. Be prepared and able to collect clean milk and cream bottle lids from their students, school community, and members of the public
  4. Be able to provide an accurate number of the families enrolled at their school or ECE that live at a single address.
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