Keeping old car-seats out of the landfill
Thanks to a Wellington initiative, getting rid of an old child car-seat is now like killing two birds with one stone.
Dropping off expired or damaged seats at Wallace Playcentre not only helps the environment but benefits the preschool too, with $5 to be donated for every recycled seat.
The playcentre is one of seven drop-off points working with the SeatSmart child car-seat recycling programme.
Run throughout the Wellington region by recycling specialists 3R Group since April, expired or damaged seats are collected from participating Baby On The Move stores and recycling centres in eight regions around New Zealand.
But the Upper Hutt location is currently the programme’s only early learning centre drop-off point.
As such, SeatSmart programme manager Toni Bye wants to show her appreciation by donating $5 per seat for the first 40 seats dropped off in 2018.
She hopes the money will go along way to helping the volunteer-run centre, and encourage recycling in the area.
As for what the donations will be used for, playcentre copresident Liz Guntur plans to put it towards an outdoor playground redevelopment.
‘‘The whare would be like an open playhouse for creative play, with window cutouts using designs from different cultures within our centre, as well as others we would like to welcome.’’
At least 40,000 child car restraints reach their expiry date each year in New Zealand, with many ending up in a landfill, despite around 90 per cent of typical seat materials being recyclable.
Department of Corrections community-work offenders recycle components from the collected seats. The seat’s plastic is made into new products used in the building industry, while straps are used to make recycled bags.
The programme, which was launched nationally in April 2016, has seen over 6,000 seats collected. ●➤ Upper Hutt residents with expired/ damaged seats can drop them at Wallaceville Playcentre for $10 (to cover recycling costs).
Other drop-off sites in the Greater Wellington area are located at Baby On The Move Ngaio, Lyall Bay and Petone, The Sustainability Trust, Southern Landfill Recycle Centre and Otaihanga Resource Recovery Facility.