Innovative construction waste project supported by Ministry of the Environment
Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage has announced a Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) grant of nearly $3.1 million that will enable Auckland recycling firm Green Gorilla to divert 40,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste from landfill annually.
“Each year in Auckland, construction and industrial waste makes up about 85 per cent of what is sent to landfill which is a significant loss of resources that could be reused,” said Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage.
“So it is pleasing to be able to support an innovative project that is a significant step toward delivering Auckland businesses with viable alternatives to landfill.
“This is an essential part of reducing waste across the region, and I am confident that Green Gorilla’s project will provide opportunities for new businesses that utilise the recovered materials, bringing new jobs.
“As a country, we need to be thinking smarter about ways maintain the value of our resources, taking circular economy approaches to design waste out of the system. This facility will provide a fundamental change in the way Auckland’s commercial and industrial waste is managed.
“The large expense of new infrastructure and the ability to take advantage of technologies used overseas can be beyond the budgets of local businesses, and that is where our WMF shows its strengths,” Mrs Sage says.
Green Gorilla’s CEO, Graeme Bowkett said that “the company will construct a large scale commercial and industrial waste sorting facility at its Onehunga site which will allow it to recover, reuse or recycle commercial and industrial materials alongside its existing construction and demolition sorting facility. The highly mechanised plant will double the overall capacity of the site and allow the company to offer additional cost effective landfill diversion services to its thousands of Auckland customers.”
The WMF provides financial support to projects that reduce environmental harm and provide social, economic and cultural benefits. It is funded from a levy charged on waste disposed of at landfills to discourage waste and to support waste minimisation initiatives. More than $92 million has been awarded to more than 150 projects to date.
Visit: Green Gorilla
