New Zealand recycles 45,000 tonnes of plastic each year[i], of this 55% comes from household sources collected through kerbside waste services. The New Zealand government has recently invested $124 million into the local recycling infrastructure[ii] to reduce our impact on the environment and boost the industry. Household waste often consists of single use plastic packaging, the greatest proportion of the plastic industry's greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the supply of raw materials for these single use items. By recycling and reusing single use plastic, such as Polypropylene (PP), it’s possible to greatly reduce the carbon footprint of products while repurposing waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill.
Single use PP plastic such as ice cream tubs, yoghurt pots and takeaway containers are collected from kerbside waste bins around New Zealand. The recyclables are then sorted and bailed ready to be sent to the next processing facility. The plastic is cleaned, chipped and fed into extrusion machines turning it into pellets (recolouring is completed during this phase). These pellets are then sent to Allproof where they are used to manufacture a wide range of drainage and passive fire protection products.
Allproof’s Domestic Channel (DC), Commercial Channel (CC), round and square pits along with cast in fire collars are all made from 100% recycled plastic. Once installed these products have a long service life often lasting as long as the building itself. Through this range of products manufactured from recycled plastic Allproof prevents over 12 tonnes of plastic from going to landfill every month. That’s the equivalent of more than 152,000 two litre ice cream containers per month.
Additionally, Allproof use solar to power their fleet of injection moulding machines. The 449 solar panels installed on the roof of Allproof’s main production facility provide 50% of its energy needs. Allproof generates on average 750kWh per day (in excess of 1000kWh per day during the summer months); this is enough power to supply approximately 34 average New Zealand homes. This clean energy saves a further 50 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere every year reducing the carbon footprint of Allproof’s recycled drainage and passive fire products even further.