Soft Plastics Recycling Programme launches in the South Island
Foodstuffs
Recycling plastic bags just got easier for
Cantabrians, with today's South Island launch at New World Ilam of
a recycling scheme that's already netting more than a tonne of soft
plastics every week.
The Soft Plastics Recycling Programme will let people
dispose of soft plastics, like shopping bags, bread bags and food
wrapping, into specially-designed bins located outside all New
World supermarkets across Christchurch as well as PAK'nSAVE
Rangiora and PAK'nSAVE Riccarton, and other selected retail outlets
in the city.
The material will then be collected, sorted, baled
and sent to reprocessors who'll turn it into a feed stock that can
then be used to make new products such as outdoor furniture,
decking material, road bollards, and even more soft plastics
recycling bins.
Foodstuffs (NZ) Ltd Managing Director Steve Anderson
says the programme has already been a resounding success in
Auckland and Hamilton, with a tonne of soft plastics currently
being collected each week from New World and PAK'nSAVE stores
alone.
"Now Cantabrians have the opportunity to play their
part in keeping these soft plastics out of the landfills in their
own part of the country," says Anderson.
According to REDcycle, which operates the programme
and tracks progress by each store, it seems New World and PAK'nSAVE
customers are the most proactive when it comes to recycling their
plastics, with 80% of the soft plastics collected from all
participating outlets to date coming from a New World or PAK'nSAVE
store.
"The response from our customers has been
tremendous," Anderson says. "It proves that if you give people the
opportunity to do the right thing, they won't disappoint."
Anderson says New World and PAK'nSAVE are proud to be
working with The Packaging Forum and The RED Group, and other
retailers such as The Warehouse, in order to make the scheme a
success.
"Retail is by its nature a very competitive business,
but we mustn't lose sight of the bigger picture. A healthy
environment is the foundation of a healthy economy, and when we all
pull together, as we have done on this project, we can achieve so
much."
Today's South Island launch of the Soft Plastics
Recycling Programme comes as Foodstuffs rolls out its award-winning
recyclable butchery trays, nationwide.
On Tuesday, the trays won the award for the country's
top waste minimisation initiative of 2016, at the Environment
Ministry's Green Ribbon Awards.
The trays replace the non-recyclable polystyrene
trays traditionally used by meat retailers, and are themselves made
of 50% food grade recycled plastic.
"It's estimated up to 80 million meat trays will be
kept out of landfills every year," Anderson says.
"That combined with the soft plastics recycling
initiative all adds up to lot less waste polluting our environment,
something I think we can truly be proud of."
ENDS
