Every year, thousands of vehicle bumpers clog up the country’s landfills, where they’ll remain for centuries – an environmental nightmare.

In fact, it’s estimated 100,000 bumpers end up in landfills every year as a result of vehicle collisions, repairs or insurance write-offs.

Motor Trade Association (MTA) Sector Manager Larry Fallowfield says collision repairers have wanted to solve the problem for years.

“Collision repairers want to do the right thing by the environment, but there’s simply been no way to dispose of bumpers in an environmentally supportive way.”

Until now.

MTA has developed a new programme – called plastic2eco – that will save bumpers and other plastic waste from simply being dumped and instead repurpose them as part of the circular economy.

The stumbling blocks to a successful programme have been collection, transportation and a final end-use solution. That’s now been solved.

Under the plastic2eco programme, bumpers will be placed in specially designed cages and collected from participating collision repairers by Alloy Logistic Solutions. The cage development was supported by an Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) Workplace Injury Prevention Grant.

They’re then taken to Waiuku recycling business Future Post, to be re-purposed as fencing products.

It is also hoped that bumpers and other plastic vehicle waste created during the collision repair process will be converted to an alternative fuel by resource management company Enviro NZ. This alternative fuel will substitute coal in an industrial process.

The initial stage of plastic2eco begins this month, focusing on collecting waste bumpers and inner guard liners from Auckland's southern and eastern suburbs. Forty businesses are expected to be taking part by the end of June.

It will be expanded into Hamilton, New Plymouth, and other Auckland suburbs, before being rolled out across the North Island in late 2025 and into the South Island around mid-2026.

By the end of 2026, it’s hoped that almost no bumpers will end up in landfills.

“The automotive industry is committed to being as environmentally responsible and proactive as possible,” Mr Fallowfield says.

“Insurance companies are critical to the success of the plastic2eco programme. We really need them to support participating collision repairers by paying for the collection and processing of the bumpers, rather than leaving it to small business owners to foot the bill.

“We are optimistic the insurance industry will recognise this as an opportunity to meet their own environmental targets, and give back to future generations.

“This is a massive step for our industry, and our goal of playing an important role in a healthier, cleaner future for everyone."

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