The Wairarapa Road Safety Council, South Wairarapa District Council and SeatSmart child car seat recycling are joining forces with a seat recycling amnesty and car seat clinic in Featherston in early November.
MEDIA RELEASE: With the summer holidays just around the corner, parents and caregivers in South Wairarapa are being encouraged to check their child car seats.
Wairarapa Road Safety Council Projects Coordinator, Holly Hullena says the Wairarapa has seen a huge increase in expired and incorrectly fitted car seats in vehicles. “It’s not uncommon for people to give used seats to family members or friends in goodwill, but eight out of the 10 seats have already expired, putting the next users at risk.”
To help caregivers tackle this problem, the Wairarapa Road Safety Council, South Wairarapa District Council and SeatSmart child car seat recycling are joining forces with a seat recycling amnesty and car seat clinic in Featherston in early November.
“From 1 – 13 November residents can take expired or damaged seats to the Featherston Community Centre for free thanks to funding from the District Council,” says SeatSmart programme manager Toni Bye. Seats will be accepted between 9am and 3pm, Mon-Fri.
“On the last day of the amnesty, 13 November, anyone who wants some advice around the fit of their seat or is unsure of the expiry date, can pop along to Plunket to see the Wairarapa Road Safety Council team, between 10am and noon.”
Advising on child car seats is a key function of the road safety council, says Holly. “Children 0-7 years (or up to 148cm tall) are required by law to be restrained in an appropriate car seat but there are many different models with a wide variety of installation requirements which can cause confusion.”
Toni says helping improve road safety is a primary aim of the both organisations. “We don’t currently have any collection sites in South Wairarapa so we are really pleased to be part of this work to improve road safety ahead of the summer holidays.
“Many people don’t realise child car seats expire after six to 10 years, depending on the manufacturer. If you consider that a seat sits in a car and is exposed to extremes of temperature and hours of direct sunlight it makes sense it would have an expiry date.”
The SeatSmart programme aims to tackle the issue of over 100,000 seats expiring each year and being sent to landfill.
“Once dismantled the metal and plastics can be recycled and the straps are repurposed to make bags from recycled materials.”
Dismantling is done by social enterprises, which employ people who have a disability or are disadvantaged or marginalised. Department of Corrections community work programmes also dismantle seats, providing indoor work opportunities for offenders, she says.