Peter Dunn, of Agricultural and Erosion Solutions, has helped design Soil Cells, a clip-together plastic stripping which can be tethered to the ground and interlocked to make terraced cells, into which vegetation can be planted.
It is made from waste bale wrap.
The patented design means the cells can be shaped to fit the terrain of banks sloping up to 45 degrees, to control both erosion and farm nutrient runoff.
Mr Dunn said they could also be used for gardeners on hills or for building-site sediment control.
The concept of terracing on hills had been used for centuries, but his company had modernised that idea and was making good use of waste too.
Farmers use plastic to wrap bales of winter feed and have typically dumped the wrap after feeding the baleage to stock.
Mr Dunn said he heard of Christchurch company AgPac which was collecting the wrap and turning it into plastic granules, so contacted them saying he had a potential use for their recycled plastic.
AgPac now makes the soil cells.
The cells were for sale on their website, but Mr Dunn said their availability should be extended once they have completed collecting data on its effectiveness reducing farm runoff.
He said the system provided three levels of filtering: allowing vegetation to be planted on river banks (vegetation naturally filters nutrient runoff from paddocks); stabilising soil, which too acts as a filter; plus the cells themselves filtered runoff through a system of holes in the cells which gradually reduced in size as the cells got closer to a waterway.
Biodegradable Soil Cells, which broke down over time once banks were stabilised, were also available.
Agricultural and Erosion Solutions has been accepted into the AUT Business Innovation Centre, which Mr Dunn said would assist with commercial development.
Mr Dunn's business partner is based in Auckland.
