Tauranga City Council has announced the recipients of its 2025 Resource Wise® Community Fund, with a total of $122,000 awarded to six innovative projects aimed at reducing waste and promoting sustainability.
The annual 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.
Councillor, Glen Crowther said he was excited to see the list of recipients, which includes several community organisations and businesses that have made significant contributions to our city over many years.
“I know all the organisations that have been successful and can verify they’re doing some fantastic work to reduce waste and promote a more sustainable, circular economy,” said Cr Crowther.
“It’s great to see central government’s waste levy being used to support these exciting local projects at no cost to our ratepayers.”
Council’s Manager of Sustainability and Waste, Dan Smith says this year saw the highest number of community fund applications ever received, reflecting Tauranga’s growing commitment to waste minimisation.
“We had 13 applications this year, which represents the innovative spirit of the Tauranga community in addressing waste and sustainability challenges,” he said.
The fund is designed to support local initiatives that align with 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.
This year, a diverse range of community groups, businesses, and organisations have been awarded funding to implement projects that will make a difference in the community, including:
Green Bottle: A pilot programme aimed at reducing carbon emissions through the collection and reuse of NZ-made wine bottles from participating hospitality outlets. By simply washing and reusing bottles versus standard recycling of single-use bottles businesses can save up to 95% of carbon emissions.
Working in close partnership with Tauranga’s bars and restaurants, Green Bottle hopes to show how small changes in how we collect waste can make a big difference to our environment while also saving businesses money and creating new local jobs.
Turning point: Community based organisation Turning Point will trial a new garment and textile shredder to divert large volumes of textile waste from landfill, while at the same time supporting local schools, sewing educators, sustainability champions, and social enterprises focused on reuse and circular practices.
Circularity: The Circular Economy Precinct project created by Circularity will support local businesses, schools, rest homes, and community organisations in Tauranga to collaboratively reduce food and its associated packaging waste.
Resource Wise Community Fund 2025 recipients are:
Circularity: Circular Economy Precinct: A Strategic Food Waste Prevention Initiative
Envirohub BOP: Waste Minimisation Support
Good Neighbour: Business case to establish a community-led Resource Recovery Centre in Tauranga
Green Bottle: Rewine – Reuse is the new Recycle
One Earth Technologies: Coffee Cup to Commodity: Diverting PLA Waste into Local Manufacturing
Turning Point Trust: Circular Textiles: Shredding Waste.
For more information about the Resource Wise® Community Fund and the projects it supports, visit www.tauranga.govt.nz/rwcommunityfund.
