Safety & Sustainability

Reducing Waste For A Cleaner Future

Venture Exports and their partner Nishi Trading have the goal to develop a program in Tonga which allows the farmers and growers to recycle their agricultural plastics. We see this new scheme as being an important enabler to the goal to “Zero Waste Tonga 2040”.

The scheme will initially be focused on taking agrichemical plastic off farm. These drums either go to landfill or are left of farm, leaving a risk to the environment. Targeting this plastic type will enable Tonga to demonstrate that they have a recycling scheme that both their local producers as well as there export growers cab be part of. Export customers are wanting to see their growers utilise such a scheme. Farmers and growers will be incentivised to bring their containers to the recycling depot. Initially this will allow for legacy plastic drums to be returned. Then as new product comes into Tonga, the growers will be able to continually return their plastic drums.

Close-up of banana peels, some partially peeled, showing inner fruit, with yellow and brown outer skins.

The Pilot Scheme

A white recycle symbol made of cutout letters placed on green grass with various small green leaves and plants surrounding it.

Farmers/growers would bring their agricultural chemical drums to a dedicated site in Tonga, provided by Nishi Trading

Close-up of a blue recycling bin with a white recycling symbol and the word 'STUD' written below it.

The drums would be accepted into the recycling system, recording the drums as they come in, thereby giving full traceability of the containers.

Close-up view of tall green corn plants outdoors under a clear blue sky.

A value per container will be established to incentivize the farmers and growers to bring their containers to the recycling scheme

Close-up of a small green plant sprouting from dark soil in a garden or outdoor setting.

Training will be provided to the recycling Nishi Trading team in Tonga so they know how to accept containers into the recycling scheme.

Water spray from a garden hose nozzle with green background

These drums will need to be triple rinsed and have a readable label on them before arriving at the recycling depot.

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All containers will be loaded into a 20 ft shipping container. Once full, this container will be shipped to New Zealand for processing.

Future Investment

As the scheme grows, the program will look to establish a plant that can shred the plastic drums in Tonga. This will allow the plastic to be broken down to allow more volume to be loaded into the shipping container. By having a plant based in Tonga, the program will be able to more economically ship the plastic to New Zealand, reducing the number of shipments annually.

View of a lush garden with palm trees, flowering bushes, and green grass, viewed through a sprinkler.
A pile of green mangoes and a bunch of ripe pineapples hanging from a tree.

It is estimated that there is over 20,000 agricultural plastic containers used in Tonga each year. Currently these are left on farm or put into landfill. When the new scheme is up and running we expect to be able to remove 70% of this volume annually. To be able to remove this plastic off the islands is a significant step forward to improving the farming practices in Tonga. For the exporters it also helps them in showing to their customers that they utilise an industry recycling program

We see this initiative a key enabler for Tonga to meet their Zero Waste 2040 goal and this will provide both a significant piece of infrastructure that can be part of both the “Tonga Single Use Plastic Road Map” and the “Zero Waste Tonga 2040” roadmap initiatives.