Finding a common cause in environmental sustainability
For over a decade now, office equipment supplier Ricoh NZ Ltd has been buying Replas Kakadu seats, which ties in well with the company’s global environmental management strategy. Ricoh actively encourages customers to recycle their used toner cartridges through a free collection box programme, where 100% of each recovered cartridge is recycled, including the waste residue toner resulting from the cleaning process. For Ricoh it’s important to help to extend the life-cycle of raw materials by making them available for reuse through its recycling initiative.
Ricoh demonstrates their support for recycling by promoting and supplying customers with recycled products like the Replas seats to help promote environmental awareness. Ricoh supports recycling in a major way,” says Margie Barriball, Sustainability Advisor. “The Replas seats are a great example of what can be done with recycled plastic, manufactured into functional and durable furniture that stays looking good for a long, long time.”
As well as placing Kakadu seats in its New Zealand offices, Ricoh provides them to some major customers, including schools and government departments. In most cases the seats are placed in suitable outdoor locations for staff, student and public use. “Yes, the seats are a great promotional tool for the company and what we stand for. Most importantly however, they are highly practical pieces of sustainably produced outdoor furniture, available for people to use for years to come.”
Rainbow shades bring a fresh new look to King Edward Park
It’s been said that colour is the bright side of childhood. So when South Taranaki District Council and its Hawera Community Board set out to install a new playground for the under 10’s at King Edward Park, they wanted a full palette - right down to the park seating. Wakefield benches turned a bright idea into reality.
For their Wakefield benches, STDC chose blue slats on powder coated lemon yellow frames. “The seats a great hit with the children”, says STDC Contracts Supervisor Nicola Bourke. “They are attracted to them as if they were an integral part of their play, like big lego pieces.” The slats are made from 100% recycled plastic - milk bottles turned into something the kids, and their caregivers, can use and enjoy. So there’s a sustainability lesson in there too.
“We are very interested to see how the seats weather and stand up to treatment over time,” says Nicola. With seating made from a combination of galvanized mild steel powder coated using the latest techniques, and colour-fast recycled plastic slats that never need painting, the Hawera community can look forward to getting years of use out of their Wakefields, and lots of fun too.
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