Closing the loop

A commercial plastic milk bottle wash and recycling facility serving communities across the whole of the South Island of New Zealand was officially opened last November. The plant was commissioned in August and is now processing 600 kg of milk bottles per hour or 100,000 bottles per day.

In 2007, four Canterbury businessmen managing plastic manufacturing companies decided to stop relying on others to deal with plastic products after use and to do it themselves. Two years later and with the assistance of a grant from the Sustainable Initiative Funds Trust to assess feasibility and commercial viability and to contribute to capital costs, the wash plant is producing a high-quality plastic polymer to specification which can replace virgin material at Comspec’s manufacturing plant.

Company Director Tom Thomson said that focusing on recycled milk bottles rather than mixed plastics provides a reliable and consistent source of feedstock for Comspec’s commercial customers both in New Zealand and potentially oversees.

“Recycling milk bottles collected from kerbsides from Nelson to Invercargill makes good sense for a whole number of reasons. Whilst these are some of the most commonly collected plastic materials, up to now they have been exported to Asia to be recycled. I have long been concerned about the practice of sending plastics offshore rather than finding a local solution to local consumption. At current business levels we will process 2.5 million bottles a year.

“The more we recycle locally, the more we reduce our energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Using recycled HPPE bottles replaces the need to use virgin plastic and saves an average of one tonne of C0₂ for every tonne of plastic recycled.

“And from an economic perspective this wash plant provides South Island councils and recyclers with a competitive onshore market for their materials. In the past, councils have had to manage extreme fluctuations in international resin prices but the bottom line is that if we take more control of our own recycling requirements in New Zealand we will be less vulnerable to the commodity roller-coaster ride.”

The project is an example of the types of product stewardship initiatives being developed in response to the Waste Minimisation Act with partnerships between the plastics industry, recyclers and councils.

Fonterra’s Eco-Efficiency Manager, Spring Humphreys, congratulated Comspec for its initiative: "It’s great to see a new facility in the South Island that has the capability to recycle milk bottles locally - ultimately, this is positive for the environment.

“At Fonterra we take sustainability seriously as we’ve shown through achieving our target this year of reducing or re-using 90% of our waste. Comspec’s new wash plant is a great example of New Zealand’s plastics recycling industry resolve to deliver environmental, social and economic benefits to the wider community.”

Comspec buys bales of bottles at internationally competitive prices and these are shredded, washed, granulated, rinsed and dried to produce a cost-effective recycled resin suitable for many applications including drainage pipes, plastic sheeting, wheelie bins and industrial packaging.

Managing Director Robert Fowler said that the company is looking at opportunities to extend the facility to process other types of plastic resins in New Zealand rather than overseas: “All plastics are a valuable resource that should be mined from the waste stream to create recycled resins to make new commercial products. Creating higher value recycling markets in New Zealand will increase the economic viability of recovering plastics.”