Hong Kong-owned waste management company EnviroNZ will receive $1.25 million from the government to revive a mothballed plant to recycle polypropylene fertiliser bags disposed of by farmers.
The Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund is granting the $1.25 million to support the upgrade and recommissioning of EnviroNZ’s plastic extrusion plant in Christchurch, that was formerly operated by the Mastagard company which mothballed it in 2012.
Associate Environment Minister Scott Simpson made the announcement today.
According to Simpson, the revived plant will be able to recycle over 1,000 tonnes of woven polypropylene bulk fertiliser bags into high-quality pellets each year.
“These polypropylene pellets will then be used by New Zealand companies to make locally manufactured products such as irrigation tubing and rope,” says Simpson.
EnviroNZ will install additional bulk fertiliser bag processing and storage equipment, such as a shredder, wash plant, blowers and silos.
“By establishing essential infrastructure in New Zealand to recycle the used bags, EnviroNZ will help reduce the quantity of woven polypropylene fertiliser bags currently being disposed of on farms,” says Simpson
Fertiliser manufacturers Ballance and Ravensdown produce about one million of the single-use bulk bags annually.
EnviroNZ is working with Ballance and Ravensdown to establish a collection system to recover these bags from farmers who are now sending out on average more than 100 tonne of bags per month for recycling
To date the collected bags had been baled and stored, waiting to be exported offshore. Now they will be able to be processed onshore once the upgrade and re-commissioning of EnviroNZ’s plastics recycling plant take place.
The Government’s Waste Minimisation Fund established in 2009, and its funding comes from a levy of $10 per tonne charged on waste disposed of at landfills. More than $80 million has gone to more than 130 projects to date.
