Growing Goodwood: Expanding wood waste recycling plant in Bay of Plenty, Waikato

More offcuts will be recycled into useful products. Photo / File

An extra 4000 tonnes of offcuts and scraps of untreated wood per year will soon be able to be recycled into useful products following a $660,000 investment from the Waste Minimisation Fund.

Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage made the announcement today, saying Goodwood Limited was a "great example of our circular economy in action - producing high quality products from off-cuts and waste that would otherwise go to landfill".

The wood will be used for products such as horticultural and garden mulch, playground safety surfacing and animal bedding.

"New Zealanders care deeply about our environment.

Eugenie Sage. Photo / File

"The new funding allows Goodwood to expand its capacity by 50 per cent, through the purchase of a truck and 10 open-top containers for businesses to stockpile wood waste on-site.

"It will also allow the purchase of heavy equipment for the Hamilton yard, eliminating the need to transport machinery back and forth between the Mount Maunganui and Waikato yards."

Sage said the Mount Maunganui-based business had collected more than 30,000 tonnes of untreated wood waste from businesses, mostly sawmills, throughout the Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions – and diverted it from landfill by transforming it into useful, sustainable items.

"With the new project under way, Goodwood employs nine locals and makes a useful contribution to ensuring people are employed in the Bay of Plenty.

Sage said the Government was committed to reducing the amount of waste going to landfills and to increasing material recovery and recycling.

"Businesses, industry, families and communities all have a role to play in reducing our waste in Aotearoa New Zealand.

"We have a rubbish record on waste to landfill that this Government is working alongside New Zealanders to change.

"This wood waste recovery project has been trialled and proven it can succeed in the Bay of Plenty, it would be great to see similar operations elsewhere."