May funding round wrap up
Assisting young entrepreneurs re-use glass
Opunake High School
Some of the students in the special needs unit Whare Atawhai at Opunake High School have created their own seaweed fertiliser for gardens, which they plan on selling to the public through local galas and school fundraisers.
They’ve chosen to re-use glass bottles donated by community members, to bottle the fertiliser in. To do the bottling the school needs a small garden shed to make the work more manageable and accessible considering some of the students’ disabilities.
A $500 grant from the GPF will mean the students will have a space to work on their project.
Getting to the bottom of glass contamination
Queenstown Lakes District Council
The Queenstown Lakes District Council is undertaking an audit of all incoming glass streams to identify sources of contamination and implement improvements.
While kerbside and public place bin data is good the council lacks information on commercial glass loads received at their facilities as well as through the Queenstown public drop off. The Council is therefore conducting an audit of their Queenstown and Wanaka glass storage bunkers with a focus on commercial and public place drop off.
The GPF has awarded a grant of $30,000 to assist the Council with this project.
Enabling consolidation of high-quality glass for recycling
Manawatu District Council
The Manawatu District Council is constructing a new resource recovery centre which will have more attractive and secure facilities to encourage residents to drop off recycling.
Glass will be separated at source and the Council expects a doubling of high-quality, colour-sorted glass for recycling as a result.
The GPF agreed to fund $30,000 for the glass storage bunker blocks portion of the project.
Glass bunkers create storage and transport efficiencies in a simple and effective way. They are also great for reducing contamination in colour-sorted glass.
Helping Solid Oral Care make customers smile
Solid Oral Care
Sustainable New Zealand toothpaste and toothpaste tablet manufacturer Solid Oral Care uses glass bottles and jars for its products and have an existing return scheme which they want to improve.
The company applied for and were granted $1,350 for a dishwasher to make the cleaning and sanitising of their glass containers more efficient, and the scheme more effective.
Making glass recovery safer in Waitaki
Hampden Community Energy Society
The Hampden Community Energy Society manages the Waitaki District Council’s Hampden Resource Recovery Centre, which includes the glass recycling intake.
The area at the centre where full wheelie bins are manoeuvred is not fit for purpose, causing a health and safety issue. The Society sought funding to concrete this area in order to make the movement of glass and other recyclables safer and more efficient.
The GPF reached out to the Waitaki District Council and together have co-funded the work, with the GPF contributing $8,700 of the required $13,900.
Keeping glass that can’t be recycled out of landfill
Glass Technology Ltd
Glass Technology processes glass which cannot be recycled back into new containers, for alternative use.
The company recently established a process for screening glass fines so it can be used for filtration and sand blasting and required equipment to bag the glass fines into 20kg lots.
They applied for and were awarded $6,500 in funding for the project. To date the company has diverted over 150,000 tonnes of unrecyclable glass from landfill into long-term end markets.
Supporting behaviour change for best practice glass collection
Western Bay of Plenty District Council
The Western Bay of Plenty District Council is rolling out a new kerbside collection service from 1 July, which includes glass-separate crates.
The GPF applauds the council for approaching this best practice method of collecting glass and has awarded a grant of $15,000 to assist in the public communications around the rollout.