Hamilton's recycling is collected at the Material Recovery Facility in Sunshine Ave, Te Rapa. Photo / Danielle Zollickhofer
Hamilton City Council's rubbish and recycling service won the Air New Zealand Excellence Award for Environmental Wellbeing at this year's Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Awards.
The service which had been introduced in August last year, was recognised for its positive and near-instant impact on the environment. The residential kerbside
rubbish and recycling service upgraded the black bags to a set of four bins, providing more recycling options for residents.
This meant more than 56,000 Hamilton households changed the way they deal with their rubbish and recycling. Since the new service started, the amount of waste saved from landfill has increased from 27 to 58 per cent.
More than 4500 tonnes of food scraps have also been turned into compost and a portion of this is reused in the city's gardens and parks, like just recently Caro Park.
