Fifteen waste reduction projects will receive funding thanks to Queenstown Lakes District Council’s (QLDC) Waste Minimisation Community Fund (WMCF).

Council’s evaluation panel confirmed in mid-July that a total of $64,533 from its fund for 2023-2024 would be distributed to groups including pre-schools, community groups and food recovery organisations with projects focusing on textile waste, reuse initiatives, green and food waste.

QLDC Waste Minimisation Project Officer Kath Buttar said the ongoing aim is to support community efforts to help move the Queenstown Lakes towards becoming a sustainable, zero-waste district.

“Every year since 2019 the fund has helped nurture new projects and enable existing ones to develop and grow. It’s really encouraging to see individuals and groups striving to make a positive impact towards reducing waste in such creative ways,” she said.

Ms. Buttar confirmed there had been 23 applications to the WMCF over a five-week period in April and May.

“All this year’s recipients will make a real difference by diverting waste from landfill and increasing public awareness of how others can get involved. We’d also encourage those who were unsuccessful this time to keep on doing their amazing work in this space. Council staff are always happy to discuss plans and offer advice.”

One project that will receive funding is by Remarkable Fungi. It will use its grant to start Queenstown’s coffee grind recovery project, diverting it from landfill to produce mushrooms.

Wānaka Squash Club will use its grant to obtain a waste audit to determine how much and what type of waste goes to landfill. The results will support strategies to reduce waste and can be shared with other clubs.

Queenstown SPCA Opshop will be training a volunteer to use its newly funded electrical testing enabler. This identifies electrical items that are fully functional and can be sold safely, with all proceeds from shop sales going directly to help animals in need.

QLDC General Manager Property and Infrastructure Tony Avery said every project that received funding had displayed, in their own way, a dedication to the fund’s objectives to reduce waste at source or reuse resources, thereby diverting waste from landfill.

“Ultimately, minimising waste in our district is crucial if we want to build a more sustainable future, and QLDC is proud to embrace and support community-led waste reduction projects that move us towards this goal,” he said.

A full list of this year’s WMCF recipients can be found below with more details about their projects available on Council’s website at qldc.govt.nz/wmcf

The successful applicants are:

• Kiwi Harvest’s Hack Off Campaign – will make personal food waste reduction methods interesting and entertaining for younger generations, while involving six local chefs.
• Mountainside Educare’s waste minimisation programme – further building their sustainability efforts and educating their tamariki in a play-based way about by reducing their waste through reuse and composting initiatives.
• Remarkable Fungi Qt coffee grind recovery project – this project will divert coffee grind from landfill to produce mushrooms.
• Wakatipu Toy Library – will further increase membership and replace toys in the library, reducing landfill waste from discarded toys and packaging.
• SPCA Queenstown Op Shop’s purchase of an electrical testing enabler – training a volunteer to test electrical equipment and purchase equipment required to test electrical equipment so it can be sold in the shop.
• Tikki Studio Queenstown education programme for textile sustainability – hosting regular events, workshops and ongoing sewing classes to support the community in learning how to upcycle, repair and alter textile goods, in turn sending less textile items and clothing to landfill.
• Aspiring Beginnings Early Learning Centre Aspiring Beginnings Kaitiaki – receiving funding to enhance its composting systems and to educate its tamariki around sustainability.
• Kids first Kindergarten’s Hāwea Composting Naturally project – will allow the kindergarten to set up a composting system and educate its tamariki on the benefits of composting.
• Kiwi Harvest’s Café Collections – funding will expand its successful e-bike waste collection to cafés in Frankton and Wānaka CBD.
• Sustainability Workshop for the community – local artists will show the community how to upcycle old T-shirts into usable items like reusable shopping bags.
• Wānaka Community Workshop, Fabricate – will continue to build the community’s capacity to repair, amend and create clothing from waste.
• Remarkables Market Journey to Zero Waste – will increase the capacity of its market dishwashing facility to enable the use of more reusable serve ware by vendors, displacing single-use items destined for landfill.
• Dumpster Dive Dinner Time – will increase awareness about where our food comes from in the form of an engaging and inspiring educational presentation.
• Lake Hayes A&P Show – has made a commitment to becoming a waste-free event within three years. The grant will further its efforts towards this goal.

Another funding round will be launched early in 2024.

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