We hear in increasing frequency, that seabirds, turtles, and fish are ingesting a wide variety of plastic items that are killing them or affecting their health. This is caused by a combination of litter in the form of used plastic consumer products (e.g., bottles, caps, containers) and resin pellets (used to make plastics) which enter the waste stream and the oceans.
Whilst consumers are responsible for the proper disposal of the products they use, the plastics industry takes responsibility for the proper containment of the products we use – plastic pellets, the basic raw material of our industry.
Plastics NZ believes that every plastics manufacturer and distributor must prevent the pellets from entering waterways that eventually lead to the sea. Employees need to be educated on how to properly handle and dispose of plastic pellets with the goal of zero pellet loss.
This is why the plastics industry has developed ‘Operation Clean Sweep’.
On November 8, 2023, Operation Clean Sweep descended upon Rosebank Road, where 29 dedicated employees from local businesses collaborated for a two-hour endeavor to clear litter (not just plastic resins) from the Kurt Brehmer Walkway.
In partnership with Simon Wilkinson of Plastics NZ and the voluntary efforts of local businessman Ben Blakeley from Imagin Plastics, the team successfully gathered an impressive one-ton haul of discarded items, including empty paint tins, tyres, chairs, empty wire reels, striped copper casings, and general waste. The RBA would like to thank the following companies, Plastics NZ, Imagin Plastics, Allegion, Go Loadrite, Reclaim, Sika, Syntech NZ, ITW Fastex & Bonson Industrial for working with us to make Rosebank a safer, cleaner, and smarter business community
