New recycling deal done

Waitaki Resource Recovery Park business manager Dave Clare (right) checks the number of bales of...
Waitaki Resource Recovery Park business manager Dave Clare (right) checks the number of bales of baleage wrap being loaded in a container yesterday by Bev Searle. Photo by David Bruce.

What was a growing problem has now become a growing resource for the Waitaki Resource Recovery Park in Oamaru, also solving an environmental issue for farmers.

The park now has a new outlet for baleage wrap and other plastics in Taiwan.

This had also enabled it to again offer a recycling service for farmers as well as enter a partnership with plastic recovery company Plasback, park business manager Dave Clare said.

Yesterday, the park sent away a 12m-long container with about 65 bales - a total of 25 to 26 tonnes - of baleage wrap from Waitaki district farms, along with other bales made up of wrap collected by Plasback, which operates a collection service on farms from Palmerston to South Canterbury.

It also has some wrap stockpiled around the South Island by Ag Recovery.

The park was involved in recycling the plastic wrap until it lost its outlet during the economic downturn.

The park continued to stockpile wrap and other plastic, and recently through an Auckland broker obtained a contract with a Taiwan company.

With that, it was able to enter a partnership to bale the wrap and plastic collected by Plasback, as well as launch a recycling programme of its own within the Waitaki district.

Brochures have been sent out to Waitaki farms and through North Otago Federated Farmers offering the new service.

Farmers can collect official Waitaki resource Recovery Trust bags from the park to store the plastic wrap, then return them once full.

Larger farms are still being encouraged to use the Plasback pick-up service.

Plastic wrap needs to be clean, free of contamination and have no mesh, string, netting or twine.

The container which left yesterday was replaced with another which will be filled with other plastic ranging from supermarket bags to clear film, for the same Taiwanese company.

david.bruce@odt.co.nz

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