Thirty-three community organisations and businesses have got a boost in funding from Auckland Council’s Waste Minimisation Innovation Fund (WMIF).
Collectively, grant recipients will receive $476,040 for a range of projects designed to promote waste minimisation and reduce waste going to landfill at both a local community and regional level.
The Environment and Climate Change Committee approved the allocation of $449,951 across 20 medium and large grant applications, ranging from $5190 to $50,000.
Councillor Richard Hills, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committee that approved the larger grants, says the funding helps community groups and businesses to take new waste minimisation ideas and turn them into reality, encouraging community participation and supporting Auckland to achieve its vision of zero waste to landfill by 2040.
“Reducing waste going to landfill is an important part of Auckland tackling the climate emergency we are facing," he says.
"The seed funding provided by the WMIF grants not only encourages Aucklanders to creatively recover, repurpose and reuse valuable resources, it also generates genuine economic opportunities in our communities – shifting us away from a take-make-waste economic model, creating new jobs, and supporting the development of a circular economy.”
An additional $26,089 was approved for 13 small grant applications of up to $5000 each.
“It’s encouraging to see so many different parts of our community wanting to promote waste minimisation and taking action to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill – from playcentres to youth groups, business associations to secondary schools, and marae to community disability organisations,” says Parul Sood, General Manager Waste Solutions.
“It’s a clear demonstration of how much Aucklanders care about their environment and how committed they are to preserving it for future generations.”
Six of the projects funded aim to address Auckland’s construction and demolition waste challenge. Currently, around half the waste going to landfill across the Auckland region every year comes from the construction sector. Supporting projects that will see valuable building materials and resources diverted from landfill was a key priority for this funding round.
A further four grants were allocated to projects that aim to reduce the amount of food scraps and organic waste that are currently going to landfill from commercial sources across the region.
Other funded projects will help to grow Auckland’s future climate warriors by supporting waste minimisation initiatives in schools and early childhood education centres.
More information about the aims and outcomes of the funded projects for the WMIF September 2019 grant round can be found here.
