Taranaki DHB is set to divert up to 44 tonnes of soft plastic from the landfill

The soft plastics will be collected and transported to the Future Post Waiuku plant. Photo/ Supplied

Taranaki DHB is set to divert 44 tonnes of its soft plastic waste from landfill each year in its latest waste reduction initiative.

Taranaki DHB's sustainability lead Maria Cashmore says Taranaki Base Hospital and Hāwera Hospital use around 44 tonnes of soft plastic each year across all departments, clinical and non-clinical.

"This includes the packaging used for single use and reusable items such as syringes, IV bags, other medical instruments and even courier bags."

The soft plastics will be collected and transported to the Future Post Waiuku plant and turned into fence posts that will pop up in vineyards, farms, parks and private land around the country.

Over the next couple of weeks, soft plastic recycling bins will be distributed around Taranaki Base and Hāwera Hospitals as part of the initiative.

Future Post's general manager Chris Meyer says Taranaki DHB is the first DHB it has partnered with.

"Our posts are now in vineyards, farms, parks and private land from Northland to Southland. We have added new products such as square posts, veggie boxes for gardens, retaining walls and parking stops to our range."

Maria says after several months of research it's great to be able to work with Future Post on this and build towards Taranaki DHB's sustainability goals.

"This initiative is aligned with the Go Zero Carbon work we do as an organisation to achieve our 'zero-carbon by 2025 and zero waste by 2040' goals. There is still plenty of work to be done. However initiatives like this go a long way to achieving them."

Taranaki DHB is also diverting 23 other waste streams from the landfill, including batteries, glass and cardboard.