Leading the way with new business

With silage wrap often ending up “burnt or buried”, a group of innovative students from Hauraki Plains College is turning the agricultural waste into eco-friendly dog leashes.
Their company, Re-Leashed, was formed as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), but for Alyssia Cochran, Ruby Green, Olivia Cammell, Kayla Geaney, Poppie Balm, and Natara Cochran, it’s not just about business – it’s about leading the way in sustainability.
“Seeing so much waste and doing more research, we found out that 140 tonnes of silage wrap gets burnt or buried in New Zealand,” the group said. “The cost of recycling can also be expensive.”
The business studies students, mentored by teacher Mr John Tate, said they were inspired to repurpose the silage wrap and “clean up the community”.
They gather the waste from local farms, clean it with bleach and water, and then separate the netting into strands that then get piled into a rope. They add leather for a touch of “comfort and style”.
“We really had to do a lot of trial and error to overcome the challenges of taking raw materials and turning it into a finished product,” they said. “We found we all worked well together and our team bond is strong which has made it fun to do.”
The Young Enterprise Scheme is designed so secondary school students are able to set up and run a real business. The regional finals will be held in October, with the national awards taking place in December.
The Hauraki Plains pupils all have their own roles within Re-Leashed: Olivia is CEO, Poppie is communications, Natara is operations manager, Ruby is production manager, Kayla is finance, and Alyssia manages the marketing and sales.
They will be selling the finished products online and at the Thames, Ngatea and Clevedon markets.
“It’s extremely satisfying to see the final product after all our hours of hard work,” Olivia said.
Re-Leashed is “recycled, waterproof, durable, sustainable, eco-friendly, and stylish”, with 10 per cent of all profits being donated to the Thames SPCA.
DETAILS: To donate coloured silage wrap such as pink, purple, or blue, or to find out more and to purchase, find Re-Leashed on Facebook or email 21012@haurakiplains.school.nz