SUPPORTING LOCAL CIRCULAR ECONOMY

from SupermarketNews Magazine | July 2023

IMPULSE convenience

The Packaging Forum’s Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme has returned to Marlborough, with all the soft plastic collected being processed locally at Future Post’s new Blenheim plant.

The soft plastic recycling bins are located at Countdown Blenheim, Countdown Redwoodtown, The Warehouse Blenheim and New World Blenheim, and opposite Marlborough’s Resource Recovery Centre. Around 80 percent of New Zealanders have access to soft plastic recycling at over 250 public drop-off recycling facilities.

Rob Langford, CEO of The Packaging Forum (operator of the Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme - SPRS), said the return of soft plastic recycling to Blenheim and the upper South Island after five years was exciting.

“We’re pleased to have collections back in Blenheim, especially as it's Plastic Free July,” said Langford.

He continued that the Packaging Forum had been working on restarting collections in the region for some time, and the upcoming opening of Future

Post’s new plant had helped this happen. In the past, the growth of the Scheme was limited by onshore processing capacity as the enterprise could only collect what it could process and recycle.

However, Future Post’s expansion into the South Island has meant an increase in its production capabilities, and therefore the Packaging Forum has been able to add more collection points.

“The Blenheim operation is a brilliant example of a local circular economy in action and members and partners working collaboratively. Blenheim’s soft plastic will be collected and processed locally and then recycled into fence posts, likely ending up on local farms and vineyards. The posts themselves are 100 percent recyclable if they need to be replaced.”

Cottonsoft New Zealand, a foundation member of the SPRS, has donated and rehomed several soft plastic balers, including one to Future Post in Blenheim, as a key component of recycling infrastructure.

In the year to the end of

March 2023, the Scheme collected 589 tonnes of postconsumer soft plastic, the equivalent of 75 million bags or wrappers, and enough to be made into 50,000 Future Posts, or 250km worth of fencing.

North Island collections of soft plastic will continue to supply Future Post’s Waiuku operation, and there is additional capacity with saveBOARD in Hamilton entering the market for postconsumer soft plastics. n

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