12 November 2025:

The words ‘ahead of time’ and ‘under budget’ are music to clients’ ears. Fonterra can now add ‘award winning’ to the chorus about their new wastewater treatment system at the Hautapu Plant north of Cambridge.

Fulton Hogan, jointly with Fonterra and partner Tetrapak, has won Water NZ’s 2025 Excellence Award for Health and Safety Innovation for the $120M project. Currently in commissioning, the project came in under budget and was completed in just 18 months.

March 2024 (above) and October 2025 (below).

With Fonterra’s support, Fulton Hogan and Tetrapak integrated their health and safety processes, with joint daily toolbox talks, supervisor meetings and weekly construction forums, using shared offices in a ‘project village’ approach. All-the-while, each partner retained their own health and safety systems.

Project Manager, Adam Buckland, says Fonterra’s confidence and commitment was key to this collaborative step, that included on-site counselling, physiotherapy, occupational health services and leadership development.

“Tetrapak and Fulton Hogan have long relationships with Fonterra, and Fonterra knows us well. This was the foundation for this novel approach to co-managing health and safety.”

In more than 195,000 hours there were zero lost time injuries, nine first aid injuries and a significant rise in ‘psychological safety’ scores during the project.

This is Fulton Hogan’s third major wastewater plant development for Fonterra in the last five years to meet new discharge limits. The other plants were Fonterra Te Awamutu and Whareroa.

Following the most recent project, the Hautapu Plant now has the capacity to process 7,600 m³ of dairy wastewater daily.