Kāpiti's great waste reduction initiatives get Council grants
Kāpiti Coast District Council’s Grants Allocation Committee has announced this year’s community recipients of its Waste Levy grants for waste reduction projects and technology in Kāpiti. The grants support practical on-the-ground projects that benefit the community by minimising waste, and encourage participation and education.
Nine groups have been selected for full or part-funding of an activity. The separate Innovation grant category for seed funding will be awarded next year.
Just over $10,000 has been awarded to Energise Ōtaki for their Green Bike project, Kenakena School for classroom bins and a worm farm, and Paraparaumu College for materials to build a beach cleaning robot.
A further $10,000 will be shared among six other community groups to part-fund their projects. These include everything from reusable produce bags to an online plastic-free shopping guide for Kāpiti.
“Every year our two grant categories attract a wide range of applications from the community and business. The programme uncovers great initiatives, and helps keep those local ideas and inspiration flowing when it comes to reducing waste coming out of our district,” said Deputy Mayor and Acting Chair of the Grants Committee, Councillor Janet Holborow.
Valued at a total of $70,000, the grants are awarded for ‘Community Education and Projects’ (up to $20,000) and ‘Innovation: New Technologies and Seed Funding’ (up to $50,000).
“Our policy is to allocate this funding so we continue to see an increase in the number, range and scale of waste minimisation activities happening throughout the Coast,” Ms Holborow said.
“The keen interest again in this year’s grants reflects the increasingly positive role the local community and business play in achieving the lowest waste outputs they can - both supporting our local environment and benefiting our economic growth.”
The Council received over a dozen applications this year across both categories.
Community grant recipients are: Energise Ōtaki Inc., Kenakena School, Paraparaumu College, Kāpiti Fresh Coop, Māoriland Charitable Trust, Ōtaki Toy Library, Paraparaumu Baptist Church, Rachel Benefield and the Whaanau Collective.
The innovation category has received three applications to go through to the next stage of the selection process. They are: Organic Wealth, to offer their “Save on Waste” consultancy service to businesses at a reduced cost/partly free; Silaca Glass Crushers Ltd., to support the manufacture of soap containing crushed glass to act as a replacement for plastic microbeads; and Laybys New Zealand Ltd., to purchase equipment for the production of building blocks from recycled glass.
About the grants
The grants are funded by part of the Waste Levy fees paid by waste disposal operators through the Ministry for the Environment, which is then allocated to local bodies to administer. There is no rates funding involved.
The Community Projects category is open to community groups, businesses, Iwi/Maori organisations, educational institutions, neighbourhood groups of at least five households, and other community-based organisations.
The Innovation: New Technologies and Seed Funding category is open to businesses, organisations and individuals. The fund seeks to encourage the establishment of waste minimisation businesses on the Kāpiti Coast and create opportunities for waste minimisation and economic development through innovative processes and technologies.
