New business encourages re-cycling

A commitment to the re-cycling ethic and a zest to make a difference led a young entrepreneurial couple Brodie Newton and Jeannie Henderson to launch and develop a new commercial re-cycling operation in the Bay of Islands.

Now 12 months old, Northland Recycling Ltd has turned what may once have been discarded waste into a growing recycling business.

The company specializes in providing a wheelie-bin service for commercial clients and currently handles over 50 tonnes of recyclables a month. The intention is to grow the business to generate new employment opportunities.

"It started when I came north and found that the level of service and the recycling ethic in Auckland was way ahead of the Far North. There was a gap in the market which we are now starting to fill.

"The initial challenge was to find a site suitable for use as an operating base and the Far North District Council came to the party," co-director Jeannie Henderson said today.

"We now have around 250 wheelie-bins servicing local businesses and the numbers are rising daily," she said.

The point of difference for Northland Recycling was that the company was dedicated to "100% recovery" in that all recyclables went to re-processing companies and nothing was diverted to landfills.

"People who take recycling seriously and go to the trouble of sorting out their waste need to feel confident that their efforts are making a difference," she said.

Water, Wastewater and Refuse General Manager Peter Johnson said today the council's assistance in finding an operating base for the new company was in line with its policy to encourage economic development and new business enterprises.

"This is a new business which potentially will also generate new jobs. At the same time the company is helping to get the recycling message into the community. Its activities are consistent with the recycling ethic we are trying to encourage in the Far North,"