Recycled fabric billboards will be Henderson-Massey Local Board’s first choice for all future events and festivals as part of the local board’s commitment to reducing waste and highlighting sustainability.
The new boards, created by Auckland Council’s partner Upparel, are a sustainable and circular alternative for corflute, cardboard, fibreglass, polyurethane, and polystyrene—closing the loop on textile waste.
Local Board chair Chris Carter says: “I’d like to thank council staff for this great sustainable option. The environment is an important focus area in our 2023 Local Board Plan, and we’ll be doing our best to help reduce textile waste and care for nature at the same time.
“Our Henderson Christmas Festival will be happening this December—if you see one of the hoardings along the roads that look a little different, don’t be too surprised as they will all be made up of the recycled fabric.
“I’d want to encourage more people to join us in this type of using waste in a productive way”.
Currently, Henderson-Massey Local Board uses corflute for most of their temporary signage. Temporary or short-term signage is commonly used to alert locals to timely, important information in our parks, near construction projects, at events and many other locations.
Henderson Christmas Festival
Deputy chair Brooke Loader, who is also the deputy chair of Auckland Council’s Waste Political Advisory Group, praises the initiative.
“This is such an amazing initiative—choosing reusable over single-use is a big step towards a more sustainable future,” she says.
“I’ve been recycling my billboards for many years. I’ve donated them to Auckland Cavy Care so that they can build new hutches for rescued guinea pigs and rabbits; I’ve also given them to local schools to use for art, and for people to use as insulation for their homes, but I feel that having a more sustainable alternative will be better for our environment in the long run.”
Upparel is a textile recycling service provider that assesses Auckland Council Group’s damaged, worn-out or no longer needed uniforms and wearable PPE.
It grades them, and then, either returns them for repair and reissue, removes logos and redistributes them to the community partners for reuse, or recycles them into new fabric goods.
Upparel is collaborating with a local textile processing company, Textile Products, and have created a new, ground-breaking material made entirely of recovered textiles.
Auckland Council Group went live with UPtex as a short-term signage option from early September. UPtex fabric boards cost the same as corflute, making it an easy switch.
Once an event is done, the signage can be sent back to Upparel to turn into new signs. Users will be able to place UPtex signs that are no longer needed in, or next to, the existing Upparel collection bins at three main Auckland Council buildings, including Auckland House, Albany and Manukau.
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