Coles announced today it would provide grants to 12 small and medium sized businesses which are instigating plans to improve sustainability, rebuild after bushfires and produce more Australian food and beverages.

Recycling manufacturer Plastic Forests at Albury NSW will receive a $300,000 grant to manufacture fence posts from recycled plastic, providing an end-to-end solution for agricultural plastic such as sileage wrap and another recycling option for soft plastics collected at Coles.

Two farming families in NSW – the McKay family and the Clarke family – who were both significantly impacted by bushfires earlier this year near Tumbarumba will also receive grants to re-build fencing using the recycled plastic posts made by Plastic Forests.