Council waste collaboration has local businesses smiling

A collaboration between Hurunui District Council Waste staff and local businesses is reaping rewards for the environment.

Waste team member Nicole Hurinui says local businesses and the environment are the winners in a new initiative the council is undertaking to help local businesses with recycling advice and tips.

“I love going out to visit our businesses to hear how they are managing their waste. It’s about connecting them up to organisations and schemes that can help them deal with their waste in ways that are good for the environment and could potentially also bring cost savings as well,” said Hurinui.

“It’s a positive way that our Council can partner with our business owners to help our environment.”

Kell’s Kitchen owner Kelly Northover has welcomed the initiative. Recycling has been a passion for the business owner since she started her business in Amberley over three years ago.

“It’s been rewarding to see how many of our suppliers have come on board with making their products more recyclable,” said Northover.

Northover said staff are trained to stream waste into items that can be recycled, such as milk bottles and cardboard, and she and Hurinui enjoy sharing knowledge and tips in their regular catch ups to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

Hurinui said it was rewarding to hear of local community initiatives to creatively recycle and re-use items that would otherwise go to landfill and there was value in sharing a database of information among the district’s business owners. “We collect bottle tops for local school projects, which helps our students and our businesses,” she said.

Businesses right through the Hurunui are engaged in the initiative and Hurinui said she welcomed other businesses joining the collaboration.