How disposable face masks are being turned into farm fence posts

Since the "mask up" mandate got stricter we're seeing more of the blue and white disposable ones covering mouths and noses. 

But where do they go when we chuck them? They might be in your backyard or on the farm. 

Jerome Wenzlick from Future Post is recycling them into long-lasting fence posts. And he says he can't keep up with demand. 

Wenzlink first had the idea when he realised the masks were made from polypropylene.  

“That’s something we use in our factory here, making posts. So we did a bit of R&D (research and development) and figured out we could use them as part of our mix. And yeah, so we're using them now, making posts.” 

The company has a scheme in place with a supplier who imports the masks into New Zealand. The supplier collects used masks from various companies and delivers them to Future Post. There, they sit in bags for a couple of weeks to minimise bugs, and then the bags are thrown into a granulator with milk bottles and soft plastics and turned out into small pieces used to make the posts. The posts are then sent throughout New Zealand.  

The company has only used the masks in their posts for the last three months, but Wenzlink estimates millions have been processed. 

“We've been doing this for a month or three now and it's just sort of starting to really get a few leads now, like I think in the last week we've had 100 different firms call about whether we can take their stuff, so there’s a lot out there.” 

He hopes to have a second line running in the next couple of weeks, which will help keep up with demand, and is close to finalising a second site in the South Island. Just on the one line, 10 tonnes of plastic is being used each day.

While he has applied for various waste minimisation funds, Wenzlink said he hasn’t been successful. But he said millions more masks could be saved from landfill with a little support.