Zero waste innovators get funding boost

More than thirty organisations and businesses are receiving a boost in funding from Auckland Council’s Waste Minimisation Innovation Fund (WMIF).

Collectively, the 32 grant recipients will receive $528,782 for a range of projects designed to promote waste minimisation and reduce waste to landfill.

Textile waste, fire extinguisher powder, polystyrene, medical supplies, and milk kegs are all getting a glow up through new recycling initiatives.

The waste minimisation activities range from $5000 to $50,000 in funding from the waste levy.

Resource Recovery Initiatives

Construction and demolition waste is the largest source of materials to landfill - more than double the waste from all the weekly rubbish collections across Auckland.

A group in Kaipātiki will create an onsite Resource Recovery Compound to sort, measure, and value leftover construction materials before they leave the site.

Other grant recipients are reusing and repurposing materials in the deconstruction of houses. There’s also a project recycling uPVC and HDPE plastic from construction. They’ll collect data on this common material to inform future investment in recycling infrastructure.

Resource recovery projects are important for reaching Auckland's climate goals because they reduce emissions and preserve embedded carbon by extending the lifecycle of the materials they recover.

The development of a regional resource recovery network has a big role to play in Auckland’s aim for zero waste by 2040. In the next ten years, Auckland Council hopes that most people will live within 20 minutes of a Community Recycling Centre where they can drop off or pick up items instead of having to buy things new.

Read the full list of recipients [PDF].