Concrete solutions to Auckland's construction waste problem

Monday, 20 August 2018

The $3.1 million grant will help divert 40,000 tonnes of construction waste away from the landfill.

A $3.1 million grant has been awarded to Auckland's largest recycling facility, which will see it double its recycling capacity.

Green Gorilla, a private Kiwi-owned company, specialises in 'diverting' industrial waste from landfill by allowing construction site materials to be reused.

Avocados, for example, can be grown using a fertiliser recycled from plasterboard.

Associate environment minister Eugenie Sage made the grant announcement on Tuesday at Green Gorilla's Onehunga facility.

* China's waste import ban makes recycling costly for NZ businesses

* $21m of NZ waste turned away from China**

Green Gorilla's new facility will divert an additional 40,000 tonnes of waste from landfill each year.

'Auckland is the major centre for construction and 85 per cent of waste going to landfill is construction waste,' Sage said.

'This is a significant loss of resources. Useful materials are ending up in landfill instead of being reused.

'Green Gorilla's project gives businesses an alternative to simply dumping these materials,' she said.

The $3.1 million, from the Waste Minimisation Fund, will double the capacity of Green Gorilla by funding a new sorting facility.

Associate environment minister Eugenie Sage handles gypsum, an essential fertiliser used for growing kiwi fruit and avocados, which can be made from recycled plasterboard.

Owner Ray Harris said currently, 37 per cent of waste delivered from Green Gorilla was diverted from landfill.

'With the new grant our total diversion will be 68 per cent,' he said.

The new facility will also allow the organisation to take on more commercial waste.

Auckland's construction industry contributes about 85 per cent of waste to landfill each year.

The company will construct the new facility at its Onehunga site and it is expected to be finished around December this year.

Sage said the innovative project would reduce waste across the region and provide opportunities for new businesses that utilise the recovered materials, which would in turn will create new jobs.

'This facility will deliver a fundamental change in the way Auckland's commercial and industrial waste is managed,' she said.

The Waste Minimisation Fund is funded from a levy charged on waste disposed of at landfills to discourage waste and to support waste minimisation initiatives.

More than $92 million has been awarded to more than 150 projects to date.