The Restaurant Association’s Kai Keepers pilot has been announced as one of the recipients of Tauranga City Council’s Resource Wise® Community Fund.
A total of $119,000 has been awarded to ten innovative projects aimed at reducing waste and promoting sustainability in our community.
Tauranga City Council announced that this year there were double the number of applications from last year, reflecting Tauranga’s growing commitment to sustainability.
Tauranga City Council Manager of Sustainability & Waste, Dan Smith highlighted the importance of this fund in empowering local groups.
“This fund recognises local innovators dedicated to waste reduction and circularity. The remarkable number and quality of applications this year shows Tauranga’s increasing commitment to adopting sustainable solutions and driving a circular economy.”
The funding received for Kai Keepers will assist us to deliver and provide support throughout the intervention phase of the pilot to our Bay of Plenty participants.
This year’s successful projects include:
- Restaurant Association of New Zealand Inc: Kai keepers – food waste behaviour change
- Bin Inn Pāpāmoa: Changing consumer habits for waste minimisation and circular economy
- A&J Demolition: Kaupapa whakaora parapara taura (cable waste recovery project)
- Confidential Document Destruction Ltd: Soft plastic and recycling initiative
- Emroce Ltd: Designing out textile waste
- Sustainability Options: Reducing household waste at source, healthier whare, healthier whenua
- Envirohub BOP: Specialist recycling
- Again Again Ltd: A reusable beverage container solution for events in Tauranga
- Good Neighbour Aotearoa Trust: Food rescue – rescuing and repurposing edible food before it ends at landfill
- Pacific Coast Village Partnership: Waste reduction programme
These projects align with Tauranga City Council’s Waste Management Minimisation Plan 2022–2028, continuing the city’s commitment to reducing material consumption, promote reuse and repair, prevent food waste, and transition towards a circular economy.
The fund is sourced from the Waste Levy, provided to councils by the Ministry for the Environment for waste minimisation education, and does not impose additional costs on general rates.
For more information about the Resource Wise® Community Fund and the projects it supports, please visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/rwcommunityfund.