Child car seat recycling to protect kids and environment

RECYCLING INITIATIVE: Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre manager Ramari Te Uamairangi with a car seat to be recycled.

Child car seats that are past their use-by date can now be recycled in Whanganui.

Whanganui District Council and Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre have partnered with SeatSmart to offer a subsidised recycling programme for expired or damaged car seats.

"Many people aren't aware that car seats have a limited life span of six to 10 years," Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre manager Ramari Te Uamairangi said.

"There are many factors that can cause seat materials to degrade and weaken, such as exposure to sunlight, changes in temperature and stress from accidents. All these things can affect how they would perform in an accident.

"Sending car seats to the landfill is a waste of resources, but giving away or selling expired seats can put children at risk. SeatSmart enables expired or damaged seats to be taken out of circulation and allows the materials to be recycled or repurposed."

About 90 per cent of a typical seat is recyclable. The plastic from the seats is made into new products used in the building industry and metal parts are also recycled. Straps from the seats are used to make recycled bags.

Cr Rob Vinsen, who chairs the council's waste minimisation and environment working party, said the council wanted to see unnecessary waste diverted from landfill and to stop expired seats from being on-sold or donated.

The council has used funding derived from a landfill levy to establish the new service.

"This new initiative is part of a suite of new waste minimisation initiatives that have been identified by council through its Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2015 and largely delivered through its service partnership with the resource recovery centre," Mr Vinsen said.

The Resource Recovery Centre charges a fee of $5 per car seat to cover costs of recycling.

SeatSmart collects seats in other parts of New Zealand with more than 5000 recycled to date.