Dismantling work for SeatSmart will now be done primarily by social enterprises, giving paid work to people who have a disability, are disadvantaged or marginalised.
The SeatSmart programme is growing and changing, with social enterprises set to benefit from work dismantling the ever-increasing volume of child car seats being brought in for recycling around the country.
SeatSmart has grown rapidly, having gone from a handful of collection sites when it started in April 2016 to 33 sites in 9 regions in just over two years. However, the increased volume, and complexity of the seats, has meant programme managers 3R Group have had to review the dismantling process.
In line with 3R’s ethos of maximising the environmental and social impact of recycling programmes, the decision has been made to use social enterprises for the dismantling work.
The programme has been using the Department of Corrections Community Work programmes to provide free dismantling for all the seats it collects. While SeatSmart will continue to use the Community Work programmes for some dismantling, the rapidly increasing volume of seats means this is no longer viable option on its own.
Using social enterprises will provide work in our local communities for people with disabilities as well as the chance for those employees to learn new skills. However, as this work is paid for, it also means the cost of recycling a seat will have to increase.
As of November 1, 3R will up the charge to collection points from $10 per seat to $25. This may vary from area to area as some councils subsidise the cost (check the locations page of the SeatSmart website for more information).
The programme will continue to deliver the positive environmental and social outcomes as always: tonnes of plastic and metal diverted from landfill, lowered use of virgin materials to make new seats, and improved child safety by raising awareness of child car seat expiry dates.
This will all now come with the added benefit of providing work for people who have a disability, are disadvantaged or marginalised.
In line with the original objectives of the SeatSmart programme, 3R will continue to seek a product stewardship approach for child car seats, but this can only be done from a sustainable financial basis. In the meantime, we will be asking child car seat manufacturers, importers and retailers to consider how they can contribute towards funding seat recycling for charities and low socio-economic families.