​ ​ ​ ​ ​

Alert

Toxic algae warning for the Waiau River, Waihopai River and the Hamilton Burn. Click here for more information.

Contact

Search

Environmental Leadership and Innovation in Business

This award recognises commercial entities that are operating with an environmental ethos and are showing leadership within the business community. Judges are looking for innovative thinking and action either within the business operation or in product/service development. Businesses/commercial entities, regardless of size, are eligible for this award.

Sponsored by AON

Waste management company Kiwi Skips has grown from challenging beginnings into one of the most prominent businesses in its sector in the southern region.

Kiwi Skips collects waste from a number of sectors, but mainly in the construction industry.

At its base in Invercargill, Kiwi Skips sorts and repurposes, and sells the waste. In the process, it diverts a large percent of it from going to landfill.
The company aspires to get to a point where 100% of the waste it collects is diverted from landfill.

Kiwi Skips has a focus on using innovation and technology to improve its efficiency, while also providing education on waste management through its social media channels.

The company aims to move to electric trucks and operations, as well as potentially expanding into other regions.

Fonterra’s Evaporator Condensate Recovery Project was initiated to improve the sustainability of its Edendale site by increasing water recovery from its evaporator condensate.

The Edendale aquifer which supplies significant water amounts to the large Edendale Fonterra site, as well as the local community is vulnerable to climate change.

So the co-operative sought to make large improvements to its water efficiency by reducing the amount of evaporator condensate being discharged by turning its evaporator condensate from a waste product into reusable water and by reducing the amount of water the factory takes from the aquifer.

The retrofitting of water efficient equipment on its milk powder driers has resulted in a reduction of approximately 500 million litres of stormwater discharge in its first dairy season of use.

The new system has produced improvements to the temperature, total phosphorus and nitrogen loading of the discharge.

At the same time the company has seen a 21% improvement in water-to-milk efficiency, expected to increase to over 30% in the upcoming year with continued improvements to the water recovery system.

From humble beginnings in his garage, Benji Biswas has grown Crunchy Ltd into a significant producer which supplies fresh microgreens to the hospitality industry and supermarkets across the South Island.

The pesticide-free produce is farmed in Invercargill's CBD using an indoor, semi-climate-controlled vertical rack system, maximising resource efficiency and minimising land and water usage.

LED lighting with optimised wavelengths reduces electricity costs, while collaboration with local nurseries allows for the recycling of bio-waste into compost, cutting costs and minimising environmental impact.

Aiming to be a 100% waste-free business, Benji has created new products, including a powdered seasoning using greenery leftover from microgreen harvesting.

As Benji looks to expand Crunchy’s product range further, he wants to challenge the traditional fast-food industry.
He also has the United Nations’ Paris Agreement in mind as he looks to produce more food sustainably.

Share this

Share this page

Sharing...