Te Awamutu Community Toy Library are doing their bit in reducing waste

Michelle Richardson (left) and Sally Fraser in the Te Awamutu Toy Library. Photo/Supplied

Waipā District Council has allocated more than $40,000 to projects aimed at minimising waste across the district.

Nine different projects aimed at rethinking, reducing and reusing waste have been supported. The government funding is allocated by the council on behalf of the Ministry for the Environment.

Council's waste minimisation officer Sally Fraser said an "awesome" range of projects sought funding, from a large scale outdoor worm farm to tyres being upcycled into rubber granules for playground matting, sports fields, mats and gym flooring.

"The fund was created to encourage and support community or business-led projects that create opportunities from what would otherwise be wasted resources, and overall reduce waste. There's some really creative thinking going on in Waipā which is really exciting to see," Fraser said.

"The panel that assessed the grants was eager to support projects targeting large volumes of waste, as the impact on diverting waste from landfills is greater. But we also want to acknowledge behaviour change and that's where smaller, grass-roots projects can make a difference."

One successful applicant is Purpose Fill, a waste contractor tackling Gib waste in the building industry. Funding will allow 100 first-time local builders to use the Gib recycling service for half the cost.

The collected Gib will be added to a fertiliser manufacturing process until a reprocessing site is operational in Tauranga making a new Gib board.

Purpose Fill director Paul Gerritsen said as a supplier of skip bins to the construction industry, he saw how much plasterboard waste was produced on building sites and sent to landfills. Each new build generates roughly 800kg of fully recyclable plasterboard offcuts, he said.

"We found that if we could provide a large, specifically designed bag, builders could have a convenient option to recycle plasterboard instead of throwing it into a skip bin.

"Funding from the Waipā Waste Minimisation Fund means we can expand and promote the GIB recycling service, working towards our goal of recycling 100 per cent of plasterboard waste produced in the Waipā region."

A smaller-scale project that also received funding was the Te Awamutu Community Toy Library.

Toy library president Michelle Richardson said the library was excited and appreciative to receive funding.

The toy library is a place where parents can go to borrow a large variety of quality toys, puzzles and games on a regular basis. The toys are reused and it reduces landfill waste from discarded toys and packaging.

"We plan to update signage, purchase some new toys with a focus on educational and special needs toys, and run some discounted membership offers in conjunction with a marketing campaign. We hope a refreshed offering will encourage many new families to discover and enjoy the service."

This list of successful recipients is at www.waipadc.govt.nz/wastefund. The next round of Waste Minimisation Community funding opens in March 2023.