Tidy Kiwis: Primary Schools Gear up for School Milk

9 April 2013
Tidy Kiwis: Primary Schools Gear up for School Milk

Hundreds of blue recycling bins are heading to the South Island to be delivered to schools joining the Fonterra Milk for Schools programme.

Almost 3000 recycling bins have been made so far by New Zealand manufacturer SULO Talbot, which is providing discounted bins made of up to 60 per cent recycled milk bottles for Fonterra’s nationwide school milk programme.

Karen Murray, General Manager SULO Talbot, says the company is proud to support Fonterra with such an important aspect of its school milk programme.

“We want to teach children about the importance of recycling – that it is more than just a feel good service. Each of the wheelie bins provided in the classrooms is made out of recycled material making a huge difference towards the ideal of a zero waste society,” she says.

Fonterra Group General Manager Global Co-operative Social Responsibility Carly Robinson says a good recycling process is vital to manage the cardboard packs used in the programme.

“Fonterra has reduced its solid waste footprint in New Zealand by 92 per cent over the last 10 years, and we've designed the Fonterra Milk for Schools recycling programme with the aim of reducing this amount further.

“Recycling is collected by Fonterra and sent to accredited recycling facilities in Thailand and Malaysia to be turned into things such as floor boards, roof tiles, paper and school books.”

Samples of the roof tiles that the milk packs are recycled into will be provided to every school so that the kids can see what their empty milk packs will become.

Ms Robinson says each school will also be visited by a Fonterra team member to talk about various aspects of the programme including recycling.

“Schools will be given quick guides and a video which explains the recycling process and shows the children how to fold their milk packs to seal and make them smaller, reducing the amount of space taken up for storage and transportation,” she says.

This morning, Canterbury schools that have indicated interest in Fonterra Milk for Schools will start receiving their application packs from the Co-operative. This follows last week’s invitation to Southland and Otago schools as the programme begins its nationwide rollout, starting in the south of the South Island before working its way up the country.

- ENDS –

About Fonterra
Fonterra is a global leader in dairy nutrition – the preferred supplier of dairy ingredients to many of the world’s leading food companies. Fonterra is also a market leader with our own consumer dairy brands in Australia/New Zealand, Asia/Africa, Middle East and Latin America.

The farmer-owned New Zealand co-operative is the largest processor of milk in the world, producing more than two million tonnes of dairy ingredients, value added dairy ingredients, specialty ingredients and consumer products every year. Drawing on generations of dairy expertise, Fonterra is one of the largest investors in dairy based research and innovation in the world. Our more than 16,000 staff work across the dairy spectrum from advising farmers on sustainable farming and milk production, to ensuring we live up to exacting quality standards and delivering every day on our customer promise in more than 100 markets around the world.

© Scoop Media