1 Jul 2022We thought the following is the endearing story behind the rubbish bags Aotearoa NZ Made manufacturing.
The business started off in 2000 as Budget Plastic Company Ltd manufacturing rubbish bags and reprocessed granules/pallets. The name then changed in 2017 to Aotearoa NZ Made Limited which reflects the desire to promote New Zealand made products from recycled materials.
They are a Palmerston North based manufacturer with three sites located around the city. Next year they plan to consolidate to two sites. Currently, they operate 24/7 with a team of 19 staff including Kevin Joe Owner/Manager.
The building is focused on reprocessing postconsumer plastic mainly milk and detergent bottles, ice cream and yogurt containers and plastic film sourced from all over the North Island from preferred recyclers back into granules.
Once they have reprocessed the recycle materials into granules, they use them in our own manufacturing or on-sell to other companies, so other businesses can manufacture their own products. Currently, they send out approximately 2000 tonnes per year of granules, damp-proof film and rubbish bags all manufactured from recycled materials.
Rubbish bags are manufactured on-site mainly made up of 80% reprocessed LDPE film (pallet wrap and coloured film) and 20% reprocessed HDPE (detergent, hair wash, laundry bottles, 5L, 20L, containers etc.) Clear bags are made from reprocessed clear granules. There are certain rubbish bag lines they have to import due to the lack of power and factory space to run all the machines.
In the past few years, Aotearoa NZ Made have started to concentrate on the rubbish bags side of the business offering a wider range of bags. Rubbish bags are a small but growing part of the business and they are proud to be associated with RapidClean NZ members.
Major companies are now very conscious of their own carbon footprint and effects on the environment from their plastic waste. They recycle plastics from some of New Zealand’s largest companies who they’re previously landfilling their recycling because no one was interested in reprocessing it or exporting it. They want to know the process of reprocessing the granules and eventually products that the recycled material is made into so they can tell that story to their customers.
They work with recycling companies to actively try to help our customers and suppliers find a solution to their plastic waste problems but sometimes it is difficult to due to their plastic waste that they have to recycle. As some of the recycle cannot be recycled in New Zealand.
