From plastic to playgrounds – Fulton Hogan is taking sustainability to the community.

While completing the recent upgrade of Scarborough Playground for Christchurch City Council, Craig Fraser, Fulton Hogan Canterbury Maintenance Operations Manager, had a bright idea.

“I talked about it with a few of my colleagues and we thought it could be a good move to see if we could get some park furniture made from recycled soft plastics, instead of the standard timber outdoor tables and chairs.”

The Council supported the idea, replacing the standard outdoor timber tables and chairs with picnic tables made from soft plastics. The six tables came from Wellington company Metal Art – a supplier of Replas, an Australian organisation specialising in recycled plastic products.

“These tables are designed to last for more than 50 years and when they’ve reached the end of their life span they can be recycled again. Any graffiti can be removed with white spirits and if the table is scratched it can be fixed with light use of a blow torch.”

“It’s pretty good seeing the outdoor tables installed there knowing we’ve done a wee bit to help the environment,” says Craig.

The Council has also recently approved Fulton Hogan to install 60 recycled soft plastic bench seats for bus stop sites around Christchurch.

Craig’s initiative coincided with Fulton Hogan Canterbury introducing soft plastic recycling at their regional office in late September. The Canterbury team is following in the footsteps of their Waikato colleagues who are also recycling soft plastics.

Fulton Hogan National Environmental and Sustainability Manager Sophie Kennedy says it’s fantastic to see a Council-contractor partnership creating sustainable outcomes for the community.

“It’s great to see initiatives like this taking place, where we are able to integrate recycled soft plastic into our products and create positive environmental impacts as a result.”