6 July
Green initiatives at the Wanganui Prison finger jointing plant will soon see waste being recycled and reappearing in farms and piggeries around the North island.
“We will be installing a new extraction system which will direct all of our waste wood shavings into large storage containers,” says Corrections Inmate Employment (CIE) National Timber Processing Manager Ron Whelan.
“This will mean that wood shavings we previously had to pay to have taken to the landfill can be containerized and shipped to a baling operation at Wanganui and transformed into 1000kg bales - similar in style to wool bales.
“These bales of treatment free kiln dried wood shavings will then be sold to the RD-1 stores throughout the North Island for farmers to us in piggeries, and calve bedding, along with other uses on the farm,” says Ron.
“Previously we had to pay to send our waste sawdust and shavings to landfill which was costing us up to $30,000 a year once you factored in costs like transport.
“With this new extraction and shipping system, we’ll soon be making close to $20,000 a year – turning a loss to a profit and reducing our carbon footprint at the same time,” says Ron.
For further information contact the Communications Services Desk:
Note to reporter
Fingerjointing is a joinery process where you take small pieces of wood - often waste or low grade, and join them together to make large, strong planks that can be used in furniture, joinery or for construction purposes.
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