2025 Finalists

 

Make and Donate is a free programme were people come together to learn how to make low-cost and low-waste cleaning products: washing powder, cleaning paste, bench spray, and dishwasher powder. People get the opportunity to make one serving for themselves, and one to donate to someone else or a community organisation. The project reduces waste, enables reuse, provides hands-on education, and is a cost-saving activity for households. This project launched mid-2024 and has been successfully delivered in sold-out sessions and to a varied array of community groups. Participant's feelings of resourcefulness and empowerment have been key highlights of the project.

A major success of the project has been the momentum it has gained, and the flow-on effects around the country. The resources and learnings have been open-sourced, and other councils and community groups have adopted similar projects after hearing about Make and Donate.

 

 

The Reconnect Project promotes reuse, repair, and repurposing through initiatives such as the “ReDiscover”education centre, the "ReNourish" community garden, and the new ReUse Shop.

The council has walked the talk during construction by using repurposed school buildings for the ReDiscover centre; and glass, waste oil and their containers, recycled asphalt and other materials have also been used.

The Reconnect Project creates lasting change by educating and empowering the community to adopt sustainable consumption patterns. The ReDiscover education centre programmes encourage people to think differently about waste and resources, gaining knowledge about waste reduction, recycling, and sustainable practices, and how to employ these in day to day life. The "ReNourish" garden fosters local food production and preserving, while the ReUse shop keeps goods in circulation for longer. Future initiatives like the Tool Library and Maker Spaces will allow for repairing and upcycling, promoting a culture of reuse and repurpose.

 

FillGood is a citywide reusable serviceware system for Wellington, replacing disposables at events, venues, and in hospitality. Fillgood gives commercial and community-based events, and vendors serving food and drinks, a smart, cost-effective solution way to stop generating disposable food packaging waste.

The system includes mobile and fixed washing infrastructure, fleets of reusable cups, bowls and plates, and a wraparound logistics service.

Since launching last year, FillGood has already achieved great gains at the top of the waste hierarchy, avoiding the use of tens of thousands of single-use cups and food containers at many different types of events across Wellington city.

FillGood’s approach is simple yet powerful: by making reuse easy at events, everyone can take part in cutting out single-use waste. FillGood is building lasting change by making reuse a practical, affordable alternative to single use - shifting spend to local jobs and services.

 

 

After 12 years in the planning, Tyrewise became Aotearoa New Zealand's first regulated product stewardship scheme for a priority product – tyres.

Not only does the scheme help manage a problem waste stream and reduce flytipping, but it has provided surety of supply of the feedstock for secondary manufacturing and production - creating economic and employment growth while preventing environmental harm. It is massively scalable and already has exceeded its initial targets

 

 

Ecogas is disrupting conventional waste management in New Zealand with the country's first large-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) facility. Located in Reporoa, the plant currently diverts approximately 75,000 tonnes of organic waste annually-including kerbside food scraps, commercial food waste, and liquid organics - turning it into renewable biogas, bio-CO₂, and nutrient-rich fertiliser. 
Since launching, Ecogas has diverted over 90,000 TONNES of organic waste from landfill, transforming it into renewable resources and reducing annual emissions by at least 43000 TCO2E. The waste is converted into:

• Renewable electricity,
• Renewable gas, 
• fertify™ biofertiliser, applied to farmland in the Reporoa Valley, reducing synthetic fertiliser use.

Construction of a new facility will begin Christchurch this year, with a Lower North Island site in development. The Ecogas model integrates seamlessly with existing waste infrastructure, making it suitable for urban, rural, and industrial applications. As the need for sustainable waste solutions grows, Ecogas provides a blueprint for future facilities across New Zealand, decarbonising industries and reducing landfill reliance.

 

 

Every year, Echo facilitates over 50 community E-Days across Auckland and Wellington, offering a simple, drive-through solution for households to responsibly dispose of unwanted electronics. Recognising the need for greater corporate engagement in e-waste management Echo launched the Corporate E-Days initiative in 2023, partnering with businesses to create bespoke collection events that amplify environmental impact.

This integrated approach has led to record-breaking events, such as the Echo x Samsung E-Day in early 2024, where 41,000kg of e-waste was collected. By uniting corporates, communities, and industry experts, Echo's initiative demonstrates the power of collaboration in sustainable waste management.

The collected e-waste is processed using the advanced MSS Optical Sorter and BLUBOX system, ensuring maximum material recovery with minimal environmental impact. By aligning corporate social responsibility with waste reduction, Echo’s initiative creates a scalable, high-impact model for sustainable e-waste management in New Zealand.

 

 

 

Project Reclaim addressed an urgent environmental challenge at three coastal waste sites in the Waitaki district: the Hampden closed landfill and two uncontrolled fill areas along Beach Road. Coastal erosion was increasingly exposing buried waste in this popular recreational area, with climate change models predicting erosion rates could reach up to one metre per year. Following a comprehensive feasibility study, business case, and after extensive consultation with local communities, iwi, and stakeholders, it became clear that continued onsite containment and protection was no longer viable.

The solution involved relocating approximately 69,000 tonnes of waste to Waitaki District Council's Palmerston landfill, with the development of a new lined Class 1 cell. The project's success hinged on innovative procurement, with Council awarding a design-build contract to a joint bid from Fulton Hogan, WM New Zealand, and Tonkin + Taylor, which allowed the team to work to their strengths to achieve a successful outcome.

 

 

 

There is increasing concern regarding the impacts of microplastics on soil health and the future of food production and security, yet their sources to and presence in productive soils remains poorly understood. 

Helena’s research developed a novel method to accurately isolate, characterise, and quantify microplastics in biosolids, composts (vermicompost, bulk, and bagged), and soil irrigated with municipal effluent. Samples collected from multiple sites across Aotearoa revealed significant microplastic contamination, highlighting critical pathways for plastic pollution in waste and resource recovery streams.

This research has been distributed extensively and raised awareness and public perceptions of microplastics, key plastic products of concern, and municipal organic wastes as a pathway of plastics contamination to productive soils. The research has also been used by the Ministry for the Environment to inform their position statement on compostable plastics.

 

 

 

The Right to Repair Aotearoa Coalition formed in 2021 to generate support for Right to Repair legislation in New Zealand. Its members include representatives from Repair Network Aotearoa, Para Kore, WasteMINZ, and lawyers and academics from Auckland and Waikato Universities.

Their work is grounded in evidence from global and national research, including studies by Consumer NZ, Repair Network Aotearoa national surveys, as well as local insights from repair cafes associated with Repair Café Aotearoa New Zealand.

Using a volunteer-driven, collaborative approach, the Coalition has earned support across the political spectrum, highlighting the benefits of legislation for government, manufacturers, the waste industry, and consumers.

Most recently, when considering drafting the Right to Repair Member's Bill, the Green Party consulted the Coalition, whose expertise and campaign support helped the Bill pass its First Reading. 

 

 

Tom has developed a broad range of environmental skills so far in his career including laboratory analysis, sample collection, compliance monitoring and environmental reporting.

His professional and trustworthy nature and excellent communication skills have proven invaluable in obtaining local knowledge to inform contaminated land investigations.

He has shown particular skills in the investigation of closed landfills with a real knack for delineating the waste using site observations, historic information, common sense and good communication with staff and members of the public.

His experience in identifying waste types, including asbestos building waste, and investigating leachate, has allowed for appropriate remedial options to be determined.

Tom has already contributed to the contaminated land industry through his representation on the ALGA Emerging Professionals Special Interest Group and regularly attends the local industry networking events. He values ongoing learning and development, showing a real interest in learning from his wider team members by asking questions and is always keen to get involved. 

 

 

 

 

Jasmine, a senior leader at Phoenix with over 16 years in the recycling industry, heads Phoenix’s Product Stewardship team. Establishing Phoenix as a leading recycler and exporter of used lead acid batteries, Jasmine has also created end-of-life recycling solutions for 'other waste' batteries. This has led to 100+ suppliers of batteries to Phoenix of which 30+ are councils. As of February 2025, under Jasmine's leadership, Phoenix has diverted 486,927kg of other waste batteries from landfill (of which 103,258kg are lithium).

Having few mentors herself, Jasmine has developed her team of eight from scratch to become subject matter experts, involving a significant investment of time. Jasmine has worked with The Battery Industry Group since inception and is a contributor to the WasteMINZ lithium-ion working group.

Her long-term vision is to make battery recycling accessible and practical to all New Zealanders. Jasmine is currently developing a nationwide network with hundreds of collection points (already at 245+), from councils and community centres to retailers and product manufacturers.

 

 

 

Liam reflects the zero waste ethos of being both practical and conceptual.  He lives zero waste, and is an inspiration to thousands, through his work with The Rubbish Trip (the project where it all started); as Kaicycle Composting Operations Manager; Researcher for Zero Waste Network; and his public facing leadership roles include zero waste presentations, public speaking, communications and advocacy. 

Liam also flies under the radar for some of his work, including being Chair of Aotearoa Plastic Pollution Alliance; founding member of Aotearoa Composters Network; and initiation and support of the development and securing funding for the Tiriti-dynamic project, Whakahaumanu a Hineahuone, that fosters small/medium-scale composting across Aotearoa.

Liam is part of Waste Free Welly, and remains active in zero waste advocacy through all his work -  drafting submissions, developing and delivering workshops, presentations, conference talks, and appearing before council or select committees for submissions.  

 

 

 

 

Patrick's professional journey began in 2017 when he acquired a modest computer recycling business. Under his visionary leadership, the company has transformed into Echo Technology Lifecycle Solutions, New Zealand's leading e-waste recycling enterprise. Staffing levels have grown from six to more than 60 across Wellington and Auckland, and processing capacity has nearly doubled in the last two years, now reaching almost 4,000 tonnes of e-waste annually.

Under Patrick's leadership, Echo continues to find innovative ways to drive sustainability within local communities. Echo facilitates over 50 community E-Days across Auckland and Wellington each year, offering a simple, drive-through solution for households to responsibly dispose of unwanted electronics. 

Patrick's leadership is further exemplified by his dedication to sustainability and environmental stewardship. By introducing advanced recycling technologies, fostering corporate and community partnerships, and prioritising compliance and certification, he has significantly reduced the volume of e-waste entering New Zealand's landfills while setting a new benchmark for responsible resource recovery.