Thousands of tonnes of plastic recovered

• Published date: 24 May 2023
• Publication title: Napier Courier, The

Plasback was one of the first Product Stewardship schemes for agriculture to receive accreditation from the Ministry for the Environment in 2010 and re-accredited in 2017

In 2022, 5500 tonnes of plastic was collected for recycling, double the amount in 2021, when 2600 tonnes mainly made up of bale wrap and pit covers was collected.

The reason for the increase is partly because of the Fonterra Cooperative Difference scheme in which dairy farmer shareholders are rewarded for sustainability practices. This includes recycling of waste plastic from ensiling feed but greater awareness and social conscience play a big part.

Operating its original, and effective, bin-and-liner system, Plasback has collected more than 28,000 tonnes of waste since the scheme’s inception. The collection includes bale wrap, silage pit covers, shrink wrap, pallet covers, polypropylene bags, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) containers, vineyard nets, irrigation pipes and polypropylene twine from farms and vineyards.

As part of its continued commitment to Product Stewardship, Plasback now operates nine purpose-built balers nationwide, designed to improve the onward transport logistics from their main centres to the recycling plants, and have introduced new products made from recycled plastics such as Tuffboard, Tuffdeck, and Plaswood.

With its head office in Christchurch, the company has a reliable network of 13 independent contractors.

Plasback commercial manager Neal Shaw says: “Customers who have their plastic collected are interested in traceability. They want to know where their plastic is going and what is the end product.”

Every piece of plastic collected from customers is recycled, 20 per cent in New Zealand...