Agrisea joins supermarket
APaeroa company has led the way to give residents a chance to recycle soft plastics locally. Soft plastics can be recycled from a collection at Paeroa Countdown from this week thanks to a service that is 100 per cent funded by industry members of the voluntary product stewardship scheme.
The Soft Plastics Recycling Scheme is partnering with Paeroa based business Agrisea which supplies products made from sustainably sourced New Zealand seaweed to the dairy, horticulture, apiculture and viticulture industries.
Lyn Mayes, scheme manager, says the company’s managing director Tane Bradley approached the supermarket to see how Agrisea could help bring soft plastic recycling back to Hauraki and Countdown Paeroa store manager Alice Davidson jumped at the offer.
“We’re really excited to be bringing SPR to Paeroa and giving our customers a way to recycle packaging that might otherwise end up in landfill. I know locals will be really pleased to see the return of the bin in our store and it’s great to be able to work with a local company like Agrisea to help us do that,” Alice says.
This latest expansion will mean there will be over 165 locations offering a drop-off service for soft plastic bags and
wrappers although collections are currently on hold in Auckland until level 3 restrictions are eased.
“Sustainability is at the heart of Agrisea, we are focused on promoting a circular economy and to minimising waste streams,” says Agrisea’s Tane Bradley. “It’s great to see initiatives that are allowing all of us to get involved by taking our soft plastic waste to be repurposed into something useful.
“We will collect the soft plastics that are dropped to Countdown by the community, as well as our own soft plastic. Agrisea will bale and transport the plastic to Future Post where the plastic will be turned into recycled posts to be used on farms and vineyards.
“Agrisea is a family business
and Paeroa is our home, we know there will be huge local support for soft plastic recycling and the programme fits our company values.”
Agrisea was one of the first Agrecovery sites in New Zealand, enabling farmers to recycle 1-200L drums after triple rinsing.
He said it was about making it easy for the community while also placing responsibility on the product manufacturers to think about their waste streams.
“I contacted Lyn to understand the opportunity for recycling, which then led me to sort and collect our own families soft plastics, the amount of plastic waste was quite a surprise. By separating soft plastics into another box, it reduced my council bin waste by a large amount.”