WRITTEN BY HARRIET
ON THE SOUTH PACIFIC EXPEDITION FROM AUCKLAND TO BAY OF ISLANDS
In a critical detour from the typical coastline and ocean research carried out by eXXpedition, the early days of our South Pacific I mission took us to a place giving waste an identity.
‘Waste is a material without an identity’ – Thomas Rau
Photo credit: Britta Baechler
Plastic Recycling New Zealand (PRNZ) very kindly gave us a tour of their processing plant in Auckland.
This site processes uPVC and HDPE with various applications including infrastructure piping, turning it into nurdles that can be used to make picture frames, coat hangers, new pipe and the soles of ladies’ high heeled shoes. They also process LDPE and polystyrene, turning them into various construction products. A new identity.
Innovations such as those occurring at PRNZ keep plastic waste in the value chain for longer, capturing a resource that would otherwise be lost.
Photo credit: Taylor Maddalene Myers
This is not easy work either, the fumes of the processing grows strong as you walk around the facility. Workers move around the site on forklifts and on foot, handling the waste that has been deemed to have ‘gone away’ by the rest of society.
And the volume of waste handled by the site is staggering, a projected capacity of 3,900 tonnes per year by 2027. Whilst recycling keeps plastics from immediately entering landfill and the environment, this quantity of recyclate is still not sustainable, requiring both energy and chemical additives to extend the lifespan of the processed materials.
Whilst we first should focus on reducing consumption and designing for reuse, collectively we can also reimagine how to innovate further to expand the uses for recycled materials and lengthen their life span. Places like PRNZ are essential for this step forward, but should only be part of the solution.
