New initiative produces road cones from recycled plastic

Road cones will soon be made in New Zealand using waste plastic, thanks to local innovation and support from the Government, Minister for the Environment, Nick Smith announced today.

“We need to back up the effort of so many New Zealanders that recycle at home by encouraging businesses to produce products that reuse the millions of milk bottles,” Dr Smith said.

Christchurch-based Alto Packaging has received $42,000 from the Waste Minimisation Fund to design and develop the manufacturing technology that uses recycled plastic resin to make road cones.

“This smart recycling initiative will mean that 150 tonnes of waste plastic won’t be going into landfills each year,” Dr Smith said. “It will also mean that New Zealand is not importing as much plastic. That’s good for the country’s economy and good for the environment.

“The funding from the Waste Minimisation Fund out of a total project cost of $304, 746 will also pay for testing the final product to confirm compliance with industry guidelines. It is expected the recycled road cones will be available from June this year and the initiative has the support of one of New Zealand’s largest roading contractors Fulton Hogan who plan to use the cones.”

The Waste Minimisation Fund supports projects that promote or achieve waste minimisation through increasing reuse, recovery and recycling and decreasing waste to landfill.

“The recycling efforts of councils and householders have been compromised by limited markets for products like used plastics. This Government wants to support the development of clean tech businesses likes this that make road cones from recycled milk bottles. This Bluegreen initiative will create new jobs, support household recycling and reduce the need to import resin,” Dr Smith said.