Doing our bit to help clean up Stanhope
As Australia’s waste challenge continues to grow, now more than ever we need to step up and do more – and our Stanhope team did just that.
As part of Clean Up Australia Day – some of our employees and their families donned gloves and got to work picking up rubbish around the local Stanhope area – together they bagged a whopping 150kg of rubbish. That’s equivalent to 600 tubs of Perfect Italiano Ricotta.
The team set off along the Midland Highway, circling the football ground and then weaving their way back through town to a collection point at the local park.
Fonterra Stanhope Regional Operations Manager in the North, Steve Taylor says the town is normally very tidy, but you would be surprised at what you can find when you look a little deeper.
“The team did an incredible job – we found the usual plastic, bottles, cans, cigarette butts, fast food packaging and of course face masks. One of the more unusual items found was a plastic shopping basket from a hardware store.
“Fonterra is doing a lot of work to eliminate waste across our supply chain – but it’s something that every individual can own, both at work and at home.
“At our Stanhope factory alone, we now have special recycling bins for face masks, hair nets and other personal protective equipment.
“We also segregate all our recyclable items from general waste, taking the time to separate out as much material as possible – even our wooden pallets are upcycled by sending them to the local Stanhope Men’s Shed with over 2,000kg of wood going there each month,” says Steve.
However, the day wasn’t all work. As part of its commitment to the community, Fonterra has created a Doing Good Together Community Trailer, and the team was able to test out the equipment and enjoy a couple of snags off the new BBQ.
David Wallace, Fonterra Stanhope Logistic Manager and one of the volunteers on the day, is excited to have the new trailer up and running.
“It’s up to all of us to do our bit to ensure we keep our work areas and communities clean and tidy – now we have a fit-for-purpose community trailer to help us do that.
“It’s fully equipped with gardening tools like shovels, rakes, cutters, and loppers, as well as bins, bags and brooms – and of course a BBQ and all that goes with it.
“It’s a perfect setup for a volunteer day or working bee. Any local community group is welcome to use it, all they have to do is reach out to our site and book it in,” says David.
To find out more about what Fonterra is doing in this space to reduce waste to landfill – click here.