Hundreds of hard hats from Queensland Nickel's Yabulu Refinery are destined for a new life as park furniture, speed bumps and other outdoor items.
Queensland Nickel's Environment team sent about 500 helmets to Victorian recycling firm Replas after appealing to employees to hand in helmets bearing the former refinery owner BHP Billiton's branding.
"Our Safety Facilitators were involved in the purchase of new helmets and they came to us and said 'what are we going to do with the old helments, can we recycle them?'," Queensland Nickel Senior Environmental Scientist Robyn Stoney said.
After some research, Queensland Nickel turned to Replas (Repeat Plastics Australia) as many of its products were already being used in Townsville through council projects.
To support the project, Replas would recycle the helmets at no cost to Queensland Nickel, Ms Stoney said.