Soft plastic recycling collection sites now in Hawke's Bay, NZ
New Zealand residents in the Hawke’s Bay region can recycle their soft plastic packaging for the first time at participating stores signed up to The Packaging Forum’s Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme.
Mayor of Hastings Sandra Hazlehurst and Mayor of Napier Kirsten Wise welcomed members of The Packaging Forum’s Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme to the region at the launch of the new collection service on 12 July 2021. The event was held at The Warehouse in Hastings.
“Over 70% of New Zealanders now have access to our recycling service, and we have 160 drop-off points around the country. The scheme covers the entire process from collection through to processing and is 100% funded by industry,” The Packaging Forum CEO Rob Langford said.
David Benattar, Chief Sustainability Officer of The Warehouse Group, said the company is excited to further expand the Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme across its national store network.
“We now have 29 stores which are part of the program. Since first launching in our stores in October 2015, close to 15.5 million individual units of soft plastic, equating to nearly 70 tonnes, have been collected and diverted from landfill,” he said.
The soft plastic collected in the region will be recycled at Future Post’s plant in Waiuku, South Auckland.
Jerome Wenzlick, Founder of Future Post, said that recycled soft plastics are turned into posts for the region’s vineyards.
“Every Future Post contains 1500 bags and wrappers. So, every time Hawke’s Bay shoppers fill one of the soft plastic collection bins, that’s another post off our production line.”
The Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme has more than 125 members representing around 78% of post-consumer soft plastic materials consumed annually. The scheme pays for the costs of collection through to processing.
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