Repost recycles vineyard fence posts for use on-farm.
Repost recycles vineyard fence posts for use on-farm.
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Repost, a company based in Marlborough has been repurposing CCA-treated wooden fence posts for the past four years, reducing waste from being put into landfills.
While the demand keeps on growing for their repurposed posts, they now have their multi-ripsaw built, allowing them to add to their product line, starting with repurposing damaged posts into 50x40mm fence battens.
With a waiting list for the battens, they have a lot of work on their plate.
However, owners Greg and Dansy Coppell said this was welcomed as “these growing sales are what will enable Repost to become a household name for low-cost recycled products”.
Repost has processed over 640,000 posts in total since the business started.
What started as a need to find a cost-effective way to source posts for 30km of stock fencing on Greg and Dansy Coppell’s 500-hectare sheep and beef breeding farm in Nelson Lakes, has now turned into a thriving business.
Their first thought was to find a quantity of discarded vineyard posts that Greg’s father Allan had been using for decades on his farm.
They found a stockpile of posts at a Marlborough vineyard and after sorting over the pile, they returned, repurposing the broken posts into usable 1.8 and 1.6 m half and quarter round posts and completely transformed their farm into usable paddocks, maximising pasture and accommodating their various stock classes.
With the seed sown, Greg and Dansy were keen to make this work on a larger scale and thus began Repost.
While they drive the business development and partnership opportunities, their team now consists of Stu Dudley who has been in the viticulture industry for over 15 years and Liam Garlick who streamlines freight and logistics and day-to-day site operations; the glue that binds this operation together.
With thousands of tonnes of useful durable wood being put into landfills every year from the viticulture industry, and with the viticulture industry priding itself on being sustainable and always looking at ways to lower its environmental impact — repurposing their posts was thereby giving the posts the lifespan they were built for, and was the way to go.
Since its conception, Repost has stepped up to the next level, and with a tick from WorkSafe, has resource consent processes in place, so they are now able to process on-site.
This has made their operation smarter and more productive.
They have processed over 640,000 posts in total since they started in business, with a gradual increase each year.
They are looking to process up to 400,000 alone in this coming year.
This rural team has quickly shown CCA wood waste is a resource that can be re-circulated and that there is value in recovered materials.
Moving on from Cyclone Gabrielle
Repost has been working in Hawke’s Bay, supporting the Cyclone Gabrielle relief efforts, along with the Hawke’s Bay Silt Recovery Taskforce.
Instead of the damaged vineyard posts being sent to Whangarei to be chipped, they were turning the posts into intermediate and strainer posts.
The 420 tonnes salvaged were donated by the Taskforce to rural communities up and down the East Coast, including Otane, Pōrangahau, Pākōwhai, Esk Valley, Tutira and Wairoa.
While the bulk of the damaged posts have now been repurposed, for the time being, their work is done.
”While the work was very rewarding, it was hard for the team, but we are so pleased to have been able to make a difference,” Dansy said.
Mitre 10 now stocks Repost repurposed posts
What Repost is doing to repurpose old vineyard posts into fence posts is an innovative approach, making use of valuable material that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
Mitre 10 Motueka made enquiries about stocking the posts locally before Mitre 10 brought them on board as a national supplier.
As a cooperative, their stores are independently owned and they often have local relationships like this.
Not only are they great products but the whole concept of reusing the posts is one that Mitre 10 is behind, as waste is a key focus for them.
They’re working to reduce waste from their operations and packaging, and they have developed circular recycling programmes, such as plant pots, batteries, polystyrene and lightbulbs as they aim to help our customers live more sustainably too.
Mitre 10 is committed to supporting the country’s transition to a circular economy and Repost is a great example of how it can work in the treated timber space.
Awards
All the hard work is paying off for Repost and the team has several accolades under their belts already.
These include:
Being a 2024 Smart Sustainable Development (SSD) winner
Finalist for the Food, Beverage and Fibre Producer Award at the 2024 Primary Industries New Zealand Awards
Finalist in two categories at the 2024 WasteMINZ Awards of Excellence - “Best initiative to encourage reuse, repair or repurpose” and “Best resource recovery or value recovery initiative”
The Gallagher Innovative Farming Award at the 2023 Beef + Lamb NZ Awards
Wine industry category winner at the 2023 Cawthron Marlborough Environment Awards.
It’s not hard to see the Repost team is ticking boxes in multiple sectors.
For further information on the posts repurposed by Repost, check out their website: www.repost.co.nz, or watch them on Country Calendar this Sunday.
