Plastic Forests turning farm plastics into fence posts

An Albury company are recycling farmer’s sileage covers and other soft plastics and turning them into something useful for all farms.

RECYCLED farm plastic is being transformed into fence posts by an Albury company.

Plastic Forests have received a $300,000 grant from the Coles Nurture Fund which will go towards equipment and resources to produce the unique product.

Managing director David Hodge said the money would help them accelerate production of the posts, some of which will be provided to two NSW families whose farms were destroyed in last summer’s fires.

Flexible: David Hodge from Plastic Forests with the fence posts made out of recycled farm plastics. Picture: Supplied

“The new equipment will enable us to expand the manufacturing capacity for recycled fence

posts and at a much faster pace than would otherwise be possible,” he said.

Mr Hodge said the idea for creating fence posts came from the high number of ag-related plastics they received.

“It was very much about the journey of seeing that there’s a lot of farm plastic and we had in our minds that we wanted to make products for use back in agriculture,” he said.

“The concept (of recycled-plastic fence posts) is not new, they been made overseas out of rigid plastics, like wheelie bins and milk bottles,” Mr Hodge said.

But these posts are the first of their kind to use soft plastics, like silage covers, and are reinforced with Australian-made steel, fully insulated and driveable.

Mr Hodge said they had been working with farmers to create something that is easier to install and works well in everyday farm situations, like when native animals come to visit.

“We were trying to make it rigid as possible, but then a farmer, who is also an engineer, said having a little flex in it is good for when animals run into them,” he said.

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