Pass the Post - Kia Ora Air NZ Magazine

PASS THE POST

Talk about a win-win. On one side you have the wine industry, chasing a zero-waste-to-landfill target but facing multiple challenges, including the headache of broken viticulture posts, which accumulate in piles on New Zealand vineyards every year (they can’t be burned or mulched because the timber is treated). On the other side of the equation, you have farmers who pay considerable amounts to fence their properties. Enter Blenheim-based start-up Repost. A collaboration between Greg and Dansy Coppell, who farm the Howard Valley near Lake Rotoiti, and sustainability-minded viticulturist Stu Dudley, Repost repurposes these broken posts as low-cost farm fencing (from $3.25 per post) in a process that involves removing all the clips and nails, then cutting the timber to size and bundling for sale. To date, 546,000 posts have been repurposed, saving 5412 tonnes from landfill. On the strength of it, Repost was recently awarded a Cawthron Marlborough Environmental Award and a Beef + Lamb New Zealand innovation gong.