Yoghurt pouches recycled
Fonterra has teamed up with TerraCycle to help Kiwis divert all brands of yoghurt pouches from landfills.
The Fonterra Pouch Recycling Programme allows New Zealanders to collect and ship any brand of yoghurt pouch and caps to TerraCycle free-of-charge.
Once received, TerraCycle shreds, washes and melts the pouches down into plastic pellets to use in manufacturing.
Additionally, for each pouch sent to TerraCycle, collectors earn $0.02 toward their nominated school or non-profit.
Charmaine Ramos-Yee from St Mark’s Preschool in Wellington – whose kids have diverted over 13,000 yoghurt pouches from landfill in the since 2017 – said students wanted to prevent them from reaching marine life and help save the planet. ‘‘We collected plastic waste and strung it up from the rafters to give the children a visual idea of the amount of waste produced at meal times.
‘‘The children immediately noticed the number of yoghurt pouches and were worried about the impact they would have on our earth and our animals,’’ Mrs RamosYee said. ‘‘They took an interest in whales and did not want the whales to eat plastic waste and get sick’’.