Kiwibank has officially moved into its new Auckland home – a building with a Six Green Star Certification near Wynyard Quarter. Michael Andrew went to see how sustainable a building has to be to earn so many stars. In late 2019, when fans at Eden Park were sipping away at Sprite, Coke and L&P while … Read more
The country’s biggest bulk wine supplier has begun turning gigantic flexibags into plastic fenceposts. But the fencepost manufacturer protests that a lack of government funding is barring the way from doing so much more, reports Phil Pennington for RNZ. Multinational giant Hillebrand spent months trying to find a recycler to complete the lifecycle: to take … Read more
To celebrate Recycling Week, Vanessa Young explains the essential role of nano-recycling in making the most of the tiny-scale but potentially harmful waste from batteries, circuit boards and more For most of us recycling means jars, bottles, tins (and the sprint to get the bin out as the truck comes up the street). If we … Read more
To take pressure off New Zealand’s swamped recycling system, Ecostore is taking on the responsibility themselves. Russell Brown reports on the brand’s attempt to lead the way. Shopping dates. We all do them, right? Nights out are all very well, but sometimes it’s good to go out in the daylight together and do the errands. … Read more
Sales of environmentally friendly dental care products are steadily on the rise, but as business editor Maria Slade finds it isn’t easy being green. Sorry planet Earth I’ve tried, truly I have, but I just can’t do bamboo toothbrushes. The feel of the rough wooden handles in my mouth is like fingernails on a blackboard. … Read more
A government announcement of more borrowing to fund infrastructure projects got us thinking – where should Grant Robertson splash the cash first? Cautious incrementalism on infrastructure has gone on long enough – it’s time to go shopping for some brand new toys. That was the message finance minister Grant Robertson gave the Labour Party conference … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Minister proposes big jump in dumping levy, Reserve Bank declines to loosen LVRs, and timeline slips out on major Porirua redevelopment programme. With the volume of rubbish being dumped continuing to increase, the government is planning to put a much higher levy in place, reports Anan … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Indonesia to send contaminated recycling back to NZ, LAWA report shows water quality dropping at more sites than not, and Spark Sport suffers harsh weekend. Shipping containers full of contaminated recycling could be shipped back to New Zealand, Anna Whyte from One News reported near the end of … Read more
A Canterbury startup is exposing medical equipment manufacturers’ deliberate one-use design tricks and proving that hospitals can reuse and recycle. There has been a lot of hype about the phasing out of plastic bags at supermarkets. But what about far more expensive items which only ever get used once and are then thrown away? A … Read more
Plastic Free July is over, but Josie Adams is still fighting for the environment. After a month of minimising plastics, emissions and even recyclables, she reflects on what she’s learned. You can read the first three diary entries here, here, and here. July has ended and so has my time as New Zealand’s most formidable … Read more
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week three. Read week one here, and week two here. This week began with a tragedy: I lost my ability to Lime after my … Read more
The Lightbulb asks innovators and entrepreneurs how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Aaron Jones, founder of Christchurch-based reusable bag company Zerobag. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Zerobag. Zerobag is a New Zealand-owned company started 10 years ago that specialises in locally designed, high-quality, long-life reusable … Read more
For the month of July, Josie Adams is taking on the challenge of being low-waste. That means minimising plastics, emissions, and even recyclables. Each week we release her diary. This is week two. Read week one here. I’ll be honest, week two has been a struggle. I’ve been less enthused about finding low-waste solutions because … Read more
From last Monday, single-use plastic bags are banned in New Zealand. To keep the ball rolling, here are five more things we could look at banning. The hotly-debated plastic bag ban came into effect last Monday, aligning New Zealand with the likes of the EU, the UK, Peru, and other nations with bans on single-use … Read more
It’s Plastic Free July but Josie Adams is taking it a step further, attempting to be as low-waste as possible – minimising plastics, emissions and even recyclables. This is the first instalment of her diary tracking the challenge. It’s fair to say I’m lower-waste than your average Joe. I drive maybe once a month, and … Read more
Today the law against single use plastic bags goes into effect. One less thing to feel guilty about? Well, maybe, writes Pallas Hupé Cotter. Trips to the grocery store have never been my favourite thing. I’m not someone who flips through cookbooks as a pastime, dreaming of what I can create in the kitchen (I … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Ming Dapiere, founder of packaging company R3pack (pronounced R-Three-Pack) which provides compostable and recycled courier options. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for R3pack. R3pack is a … Read more
Wellington-based startup Again Again has big plans for the way you do takeaways. Have you got a keep cup? Oh you do? Neat. Where is it? Oh you don’t know? Probably at home? Maybe at work? Maybe in the car? So not with you when you went to get your takeaway flat white this morning, … Read more
Where do mattresses go to die? The dump, of course. But Michael Andrew has other ideas. In the furniture world, there’s no sadder life than that of the mattress. I’ve slept on mine almost every night for 10 years. I’ve eaten on it, read on it, watched TV on it, dreamt on it, cried myself … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Figures of foreign buyers shows a big decrease, principals unimpressed by government teacher recruitment fund, and CRL funding issues debated at Council. The statistics on foreign house buyers since the ban came into effect have shown a dramatic decline in sales to those overseas. It has pretty … Read more
OK, so we’ve got rid of plastic bags. But what about all the other stuff? Phasing plastic packaging out is a mammoth task, but some of the industry’s main players are working hard to promote change. Next time you’re at your local supermarket, have a look around. Go up and down each aisle and have … Read more
With global angst mounting about the buildup of plastic ending up in landfills and the environment, chemists and materials scientists are considering pyrolysis as an option. But how does it work? And is it really a solution? For decades, putting used plastic into recycling bins was considered a convenient way to get rid of rubbish, … Read more
A call for feedback in our daily email newsletter The Bulletin on how New Zealand could reduce the amount of waste being produced – and ending up in landfills – prompted a massive response. Here are some of your ideas. In some ways, this call for feedback was the crisis New Zealand is facing with … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Spate of stories show rubbish problem is increasing, Don Brash Waitangi invite sparks boycott call, and bees struggling to get enough to eat. We’re not the tidy Kiwis we like to think we are. A range of recent stories show problems in waste management are mounting in … Read more
Think you’re helping the planet by chucking that sushi container in the recycling bin or dutifully using your local cafe’s compostable takeaway coffee cups? Think again, writes Greg Roughan for RNZ. So the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) puts out a 47-page report on New Zealand’s plastic packaging system, and there’s a line that leaps out: recycling … Read more
Tonnes upon tonnes of plastic waste with nowhere to go — there’s no easy solution, but for one group of Kiwi businesses, simply doing nothing was not an option. Until earlier this year, even the most diligent recyclers may not have given much thought to what happens to that plastic bottle after it’s been deposited … Read more
Our landfills are approaching capacity and our country is lacking the necessary infrastructure to support reuse, recycle and composting programmes. Two Māori businesses are helping create waste solutions by championing product stewardship. Whether you are reading this from your computer at your desk, or your phone on-the-go, stop and look around your immediate space. What … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens have their weekend in the spotlight, sharp rise in international visitor spending, and drums beating for Fonterra breakup. The Green Party have had their annual weekend in the spotlight, and have pushed out some new policy wins. They’re areas where the party has promised to make … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Nick Leckie, co-founder of rainwear company Okewa which is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for its newest product line – raincoats made from recycled plastic bottles. ONE: How did Okewa start and what … Read more