The Government’s planned investment in Defence over the next 15 years represents a huge opportunity for New Zealand companies, says Defence Minister Mark Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell told Defence industry representatives last night that the country needs a Defence Force that is equipped and supported to respond to a rapidly changing strategic environment.

“This requires investment. Over the next 15 years, the Government will invest up to $20 billion in new and upgraded military capability, including replacement of all our major platforms and the regeneration of the Defence estate.

“We have many companies in the Defence sector who are themselves investing and innovating in their areas of expertise. The Government’s investment in Defence promotes growth in the sector, creates jobs and means that the industry will have every chance to build on its achievements.

“While we are not builders of warships or military aircraft, New Zealand companies can support those capabilities with world-class products and systems, and also support them through life,” Mr Mitchell says.

“For every dollar spent on a new capability, four is spent supporting it through life, the bulk of which is spent locally.

“Each year the New Zealand Defence Force spends $600 million on maintenance and repair, training, and other commercial services.

“The Government is committed to ensuring New Zealand companies are given every opportunity to compete for a share of the investment in Defence.

“The products and services New Zealand companies produce are recognised as world-class, and where they can reduce the cost ownership for the Government we need to support them,” Mr Mitchell says.

| A Beehive release  ||  August 11,  2017   |||

Container tech company BISON this week launched the C-Lift P32, a new portable container lift system that equips shipping, logistics, and military operators to lift containers in any location. Recognising that conventional container handling equipment is typically big, heavy and expensive, BISON has developed a compact, portable and more economic alternative aimed at extending the benefits of intermodal logistics to new frontiers. The P32 is easily transported between sites, sets up in minutes and allows containers of all sizes and weights up to 32 tonne (70,000 lb) to be lifted on and off trailers safely and efficiently. Greg Fahey, BISON’s CEO, said:

“A big challenge if you want to lift containers outside of a freight hub is finding suitable equipment to do the job. So often, the size or weight of the container, space restrictions on site, or simply a lack of suitable equipment in the area, mean that cargo movements are compromised or costs are unreasonably high.”

BISON developed the P32 to solve this problem and sees the P32 as opening up a range of new possibilities for container freight and logistics. Users will be able to lift and ground containers more economically in factories or warehouses. This can allow container stuffing or unloading in better locations and ease the pressure of live loading and chassis detention costs.

Customers in remote locations, such as military, aid and project logistics operators can use the P32 to get containers in and out of remote locations more easily, avoiding reliance on local infrastructure. BISON is also fielding interest from construction and removals firms, wanting a mobile solution for delivering and collecting full containers at construction and urban sites.

A key part of the P32 design is BISON’s patent pending lift and lock mechanism, which reduces the size of the hydraulic system considerably, but still enables heavy containers to be elevated 1.65 metres off the ground. This in turn reduces the size, weight and cost of the system. Fahey continued: “The novelty of the P32 is its unique combination of portability, lift capacity and price. In these respects, it’s a world first for container handling equipment.”

The new product is the latest from BISON who’s container sales are now in use in over 25 countries. Notable customers include NASA, the US Airforce, Virgin Galactic and Emirates Team New Zealand.

BISON will be showcasing its newly developed C-Lift P32 at the IANA Intermodal EXPO in California and ntermodal Europe in Amsterdam this year.

| A  Handy Shipping Guide release  ||  August 11,  2017   |||

Christchurch’s Davinia Sutton and New Plymouth’s Glen Johns were the Supreme winners at the New Zealand’s kitchen and bathroom Excellence in Design Awards in Sydney tonight.

Johns won the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association (NKBA) best kitchen award and Sutton won best bathroom. The pair have led with outstanding NKBA awards between them in recent years.

Judges said Johns kitchen design offered sophisticated space with a juxtaposition of the warm wood and metal. They said the lighting provided an intimate feel and offered clever use of modern technology.

Johns says kitchens are such an integral part of the household, that it makes sense to also ensure they are a critical part of the architecture. Johns is renowned for his architectural approach to kitchen design.

He has been involved in the kitchen industry for 26 years. His company, Kitchens by Glen Johns, combines skills, passion and creativity of innovative design creating quality award winning kitchens, bathrooms, laundries and all other forms of cabinetry within a wide spectrum of briefs.

Supreme bathroom design winner Sutton found judges saying her design profiled ‘’a lovely composition of colours’’. They said her design was simple and stylish, minimal yet warm and comfortable. The design provided great storage and the detailing “is beautiful and elegant”.

Sutton, who won the same award last year, says she is passionate about interior architecture, from traditional to modern in style, my approach to each design is well thought out and highly considered.

Her company Detail by Davinia Sutton is a boutique design practice with a combined experience of over 25 years designing interiors, including kitchens, bathrooms, laundries, wardrobing, furniture, media rooms, storage solutions and outside living/BBQ zones.

In addition to the supreme kitchen and bathroom winners, there are over 30 other awards presented including regional awards and a student design award.

Winners came from Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Southland, Otago, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay.

Last year’s supreme kitchen design award winner Auckland designer Morgan Cronin was a judge this year. The awards are being held off shore for the first time so designers can attend the 2017 Sydney Indesign event this weekend.

As the country's top kitchen and bathroom designers presented the best of their work in the annual awards, it offered a litmus test of the latest trends, NKBA president Annemarie Mains says.

“We have been so excited about the beautiful and creative kitchen and bathroom designs of the New Zealand designers this year. NKBA designers are world class with such a high standard and quality manufacturing,” Mains says.

The awards are the longest standing kitchen and bathroom design Awards in New Zealand. This year’s awards are the 33rd for the NKBA, with Fisher & Paykel as the 2017 principal sponsor.

NKBA designers are leaders in the industry with many working not only within New Zealand but overseas as well, Mains says.

| A MakeLemonade release  ||  August 11,  2017   |||

One of New Zealand’s fastest rising consumer production companies, The Pure Food Co, is about to take off as it has opened a massive new manufacturing facility in Auckland.

The Pure Food Co, rated one of the rising stars in the latest Deloitte Fast 50 Index, had taken control of its business by ramping up opportunities after building their own production plant in Mt Wellington.

Pure Food founders Sam Bridgewater and Maia Royal have spent the last three years growing their food business at Auckland’s food innovation incubator The FoodBowl.

They had reached the point where they had enough investment to build their own 600 plus square metre manufacturing facility to fulfil their goal of supplying every hospital and aged care facility with high quality pureed food with clinical benefits.

The FoodBowl accelerates or incubates clients’ progress so they can develop and prove their worth to investors to back them to build a new plant so they can start their own independent production.

Pure Food produced pureed food predominately for the growing elderly population, or anyone in need of better nutrition. Bridgewater says the new factory is future-proofed so they can grow about 15 times without needing to move. This will allow them to expand throughout the rest of New Zealand and start to explore export markets.

With support from partners, Bridgewater and Royal established The Pure Food Co after watching a family member suffer from swallowing difficulties. The business is a personal quest to bring food to people with eating difficulties, providing meals into the aged and healthcare industry nationwide.

To begin with, Bridgewater and Royal didn’t have the technology and manufacturing skills to produce their texture modified products, so the FoodBowl was the perfect first step for them to trial and iterate development of their products.

“We started in a small room to get proof of concept and samples in the market then jumped up to a large room doing multiple 700kg batches as the demand grew, eventually getting to 2 tonne per day. The FoodBowl helped by bringing in new bits of equipment for us to trial and scale up with,” Bridgewater says.

“The benefit was a wide range of technologies under one roof for us to assess within our production line. It meant we didn’t have to spend a lot of money on pieces of equipment that we might not actually need down the line.

“Being under constant scrutiny from The FoodBowl pushed us to take it to the next level. We now have successfully commissioned a new plant within time and budget that exceeds MPI’s regulatory standards.

“We couldn’t have done things as fast without the assistance of The FoodBowl. They have introduced us to some of our suppliers like our packaging and machinery that we are working with now in our new factory. It was a perfect stepping stone for us and drove us to reach new standards and scale to ensure we were well equipped to make that leap out on to our own.”

The Pure Food Co is now providing close to 40,000 meals a month and has landed large clients such as Ryman and Compass group who caterer to hospitals.

|  A MakeLemonade Pure Food Co release  ||  August 9,  2017   |||

On Monday, the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA) hosted a forum to discuss policy issues of importance to manufacturers, featuring Hon Steven Joyce, National MP and Minister for Finance and Infrastructure, Grant Robertson, Labour's Finance Spokesperson, and James Shaw, Co-Leader of the Green Party. This was a great opportunity to hear three representatives from major parties engage with NZMEA members in a quality discussion on manufacturing, and today the NZMEA is releasing its list of policies for the 2017 election.

Mr Dieter Adam, CE, NZMEA said, “With the election only 7 weeks away, it’s important that all parties put forward their vision for creating a more prosperous and high-value economy, with manufacturing playing a key role.

"We believe the policies set out here will contribute to growing high value industries in New Zealand.

“We would like to see all parties include all or at least some of our 10 policy points in their election policies. These include working to develop a better understanding of manufacturing and its future potential through a Minister for Manufacturing, addressing skills shortages that hold back the industry from growth and changes to R&D settings to help increase business R&D spending.” Said Dieter.

The 10 NZMEA policy positions are outlined below. A full list can be found below and by clicking here.

1. Fundamentally change the policy approach to economic development, focusing on growing high-value exports
2. Appoint a Minister for Manufacturing
3. Improve and reform the education sector to address current and future skill shortages
4. Review immigration to ensure a more targeted approach to filling short-term skills shortages
5. Encourage and support increased business R&D and innovation through R&D tax credits
6. Introduce accelerated depreciation for new machinery and equipment
7. Work to create a level playing field for manufacturers in trade agreements and trade practices
8. Provide the right incentives for shifting more investment into the productive sectors of our economy
9. Review and reform monetary policy
10. Adopt effective and equitable policies that lead to improved environmental outcomes , especially in the areas of global warming and fresh water quality

”Our policies will help to create an environment where high value producers, particularly manufacturers, can thrive, grow exports and provide well-paid incomes so New Zealanders can have a more prosperous future. “ Said Dieter.

The NZMEA forum offered a robust conversation about the opportunities and challenges manufacturers face, focusing on the steady and growing contribution manufacturing is making to the goal of New Zealand exports reaching 40% of GDP, staying abreast of advancing technology and investing in a skilled workforce.

“Manufacturing has changed offering new opportunities for countries like New Zealand to grab and run with," says Mr Adam.

“Manufacturing is also entering a rich pipeline of innovations in materials and processes – from 3-D printing to advanced robotics, which promises to create efficiencies and speed to a global market.

“The future is more and more about innovation, increased productivity and global trade of high value components and we want to hear how our political leaders plan to support this.

“The forum was a positive step forward and we were pleased to hear politicians acknowledge the vital role both process and product innovation plays in growing our sector, " he says.

Prof Jane Goodyer, Head of School of Engineering and Technology, Massey University, moderated the event from a highly experienced perspective.

“The manufacturing sector is the backbone to NZ’s prosperity through taking our innovations to the world, " she shared.

“NZ has an opportunity to really add value to our economy. Industry, Government and education need to work closer together to make this happen,” says Prof Goodyer.

Prof Goodyer’s comments reiterate recommendations in a 2012 McKinsey report on the future of manufacturing, which concluded that two key priorities for both governments and businesses are education and the development of skills. They will need qualified, computer-savvy factory workers and agile managers for complex global supply chains. In addition to supporting ongoing efforts to improve public education—particularly the teaching of math and analytical skills—policy makers must work with industry and educational institutions to ensure that skills learned in school fit the needs of employers.

| An NZMEA release  || August 9,  2017   |||

The company is investing in training and growing local talent to combat a skills shortage in the engineering industry through closer relationships with the regional tertiary provider, Ara Institute of Canterbury.

Wyma Solutions Production Manager Michael Anderson says that the company often struggled to find the people it needed, so instead turned to young talent and more investment in training.

“We’re growing quickly and we need more highly-skilled people to compete internationally. It’s difficult to find people with the right skillset in the market so we’re investing in apprentice training through Ara to grow our team and our production,” he says.

The post-harvest equipment manufacturers currently have nine apprentices training through Ara and aim to double that number over the next two years to meet their specialised staffing needs.Engineers working in the manufacturing industry need to be multi-skilled and creative thinkers, Anderson says.“We don’t just plonk our staff at one point in an assembly line to do the same thing day in, day out. Every machine we make is customised and we need staff that can problem-solve and complete a variety of tasks.“We choose to train through Ara because their tutors are experienced and have broad knowledge. They are recognised in New Zealand as a leading tertiary educational institute who provide world-class training and have top-notch facilities and equipment.”

Apprentices attend block courses and night classes at Ara. They also have a ‘buddy’ at Wyma Solutions to teach them the basics and help them progress through their training.“Ara provides them with the skills to become competent tradespeople and we assist them in growing.”

Wyma Solutions also enhances their apprentices’ training further through exchanges with other companies to expose their young talent to the many different aspects of engineering.“Engineering is broad and that’s what makes it exciting. We want our apprentices to go out and experience other things, then come back to us with added skills and fresh eyes,” Anderson says.

Many of Wyma Solutions’ former apprentices now have key roles in the company and their career development doesn’t stop there. The company is currently looking at Ara courses to upskill team leaders and front-line management. They also often take on young pre-trade graduates from Ara, with the aim of progressing them into further training.

Ultimately Anderson says that Wyma Solutions wants to get as many staff as possible through formal training in order to enhance its already highly-skilled workforce and compete with large manufacturers overseas.“By choosing to train staff through Ara, we are investing in the future of Wyma and boosting our ability to compete on the global stage.”

| An ARA release  || August 8,  2017   |||

Rocket Lab has completed an internal review of data from its May 25 test flight of its Electron rocket. The review found the launch had to be terminated due to an independent contractor’s ground equipment issue, rather than an issue with the rocket. Rocket Lab’s investigation board has identified the root causes and corrective actions.

The Federal Aviation Administration, the primary body responsible for licensing the launch, has overseen Rocket Lab’s comprehensive investigation and will review the findings.

Rocket Lab’s engineers have spent the last two months working through an extensive fault tree analysis to ensure all factors that may have influenced the outcome of the launch were thoroughly evaluated. The investigation involved the review of over 25,000 channels of data collected during the flight in addition to extensive testing at Rocket Lab facilities in California and New Zealand.

Rocket Lab’s investigation team determined the launch, named ‘It’s a Test’, was terminated due to a data loss time out, which was caused by misconfiguration of telemetry equipment owned and operated by a third-party contractor who was supporting the launch from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1.

Four minutes into the flight, at an altitude of 224 km, the equipment lost contact with the rocket temporarily and, according to standard operating procedures, range safety officials terminated the flight. Data, including that from Rocket Lab’s own telemetry equipment, confirmed the rocket was following a nominal trajectory and the vehicle was performing as planned at the time of termination.

“We have demonstrated Electron was following its nominal trajectory and was on course to reach orbit,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab CEO. “While it was disappointing to see the flight terminated in essence due to an incorrect tick box. We can say we tested nearly everything, including the flight termination system. We were delighted with the amount of data we were able to collect during an exceptional first test launch.

Rocket Lab’s telemetry systems provided data verifying Electrons capabilities and providing us with high confidence ahead of our second test flight. The call to terminate a launch would be tough for anyone, and we appreciated the professionalism of the flight safety officials involved.”

The telemetry data loss that led to the termination of the flight has been directly linked to a key piece of equipment responsible for translating radio signals into data used by safety officials to track the vehicle performance. It was discovered a contractor failed to enable forward error correction on this third-party device causing extensive corruption of received position data. The failure was first indicated by the fact that Rocket Lab’s own equipment did not suffer similar data loss during launch. Further confirmation of the cause was demonstrated when replaying raw radio-frequency data - recorded on launch day - through correctly configured equipment also resolved the problem.

The fix for the issue is simple and corrective procedures have been put in place to prevent a similar issue in future. No major changes to the Electron launch vehicle hardware have been required and the company has authorized the production of four additional launch vehicles as it prepares for commercial operations ahead of the test flight program. Rocket Lab’s second Electron rocket, named ‘Still Testing’, is undergoing final checks and preparations ahead of being shipped to Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 shortly.

| A RocketLab release  ||  August 7,  2017   |||

Probably because of the unprecedented earthquake rebuild, Canterbury has produced the most number of entries for the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association (NKBA) 2017 Excellence in Design awards to be announced at Pyrmont in Sydney on Friday, August 11.

Auckland, easily New Zealand’s biggest city, usually has the most entries. Other entries for the event have come from Wellington, Southland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay.

Last year’s supreme kitchen design award winner Auckland designer Morgan Cronin is a judge this year. The awards are being held off shore for the first time so designers can attend the 2017 Sydney Indesign event next weekend.

When the country's top kitchen and bathroom designers present the best of their work in the annual awards, it’s like a litmus test of the latest trends, NKBA president Annemarie Mains says.

“We are so excited about the beautiful and creative kitchen and bathroom designs of the New Zealand designers that entered this year. NKBA designers are world class with such a high standard and quality manufacturing,” Mains says.

“Mal Corboy, one of judges, said he was impressed with the quality of the kitchen and bathroom designs. For home owners wanting to build new or shape their kitchens and bathrooms it’s important to have NKBA qualified designers and manufacturers as clients who have vast knowledge of the regulations especially with council compliance issues.

“Kitchens link the lounge, living areas and the outdoor entertainment areas and are the hub of the social environment of a house and they are probably the most expensive room in a house.

“Reality cooking programmes show the passion and interest towards food, health and entertaining. To have flexibility for the modern cook with varying ethnic backgrounds, we have seen a rise in the combination style cooktops being specified. Combination cooktops allow you to have multiple cooking technologies (induction and gas) side by side.”

The awards are the longest standing kitchen and bathroom design Awards in New Zealand. This year’s awards are the 33rd for the NKBA awards.

NKBA designers are leaders in the industry with many working not only within New Zealand but overseas as well, Mains says.

In addition to the supreme kitchen and bathroom winners being named on Friday, there are 35 other awards to be presented including regional awards and a student design award to be announced.

|  A Make Lemonade release  ||  August 6,  2017   |||

Bellingham Marine is a world respected company, with a long history of innovative manufacturing of marina pontoons and highly respected design developments. It was started in Bellingham.

Washington State in the USA over fifty years ago and from that it has continued to develop and grow all the time creating new concepts in marina design and in the construction of concrete pontoons to the point where it is now regarded as the world leader in the market segment.

Bellingham started out with a vision to design and build the ultimate facility for their client’s marina business and have remained faithful to that promise over the intervening half century.

They have ensured that both the design and engineering and the physical construction of the concrete pontoons is constantly researched and improved so that today they are considered the benchmark in the industry.

 Switch from steel bolts to fibre glass nuts

The latest development that will be introduced shortly by Bellingham is to switch from steel bolts, which create an opportunity for rust intrusion and possible structure failure to fibre glass nuts and bolts which they have developed with a composite specialist.

Bellingham is also committed to ensuring that their marina products preserve the environment and save energy for the benefit of everyone.

They have also supported marine biology studies that helped them to understand how a marina installation affects aquatic life and harbour ecology.

Two marinas in the USA have partnered with Bellingham to pioneer new technologies to produce a “green marina”.

Most Bellingham manufacturing facilities are ISO or PCI certified and all are required to work to existing Bellingham standards worldwide.

 The Pontoons

Their concrete pontoons are a masterpiece in both the aesthetic design and construction areas.

The pontoons are built around a polyurethane block the design of which has features that allow the inclusion of service conduits such as electricity, water, sewerage and fuel reticulation to client specifications.

Where a series of pontoons are to be connected to provide fast connection adapters are available to extend the services through the marina.

Each marina installation is designed individually to best perform and provided the levels of service and security the marina owner requires.

The pontoons are available in a variety of sizes and are constructed in a special facility and transported to the final site.

While they are constructed around a relatively lightweight block, called a core in the industry, they are covered on all sides with special concrete and steel reinforcing to ensure that they will be able to stand the sort of loads they are called on to handle in the marina environment.

Typically a pontoon is 2.4 metres wide and 5.5 metres long and a little under a metre thick.

This means that each pontoon is reasonably heavy and awkward to handle.

Bellingham transports the pontoons from their manufacturing facilities to locations worldwide but it’s better that they are constructed as close as possible to the placement site to reduce transport costs and maintain the lowest possible price.

For this reason, as they grew their business, Bellingham expanded their manufacturing capability geographically but ensured at all times that each facility was equal to the standard of all the other locations.

The company has extensive training programmes at all levels and they are careful to ensure that all employees are totally aware of the processes and the company standards so that they can guarantee every client.

No matter where they are in the world that the product delivered to them will conform to the stringent standards they have developed.

Pontoons for Fiji are manufactured in New Zealand.

There are a number of marinas in Fiji that use the Bellingham pontoons and up to now these have been manufactured in New Zealand and shipped to Fiji for placement on the site.

Port Denarau is one of the Bellingham sites in Fiji and there are other smaller marinas as well as a number of single pontoon installations for private use. In every case the company provides support in fulfilling local requirements for approvals and requirements.

Because the South Pacific presents a very large opportunity for marina and pontoon placement and because changes in the market on duty, taxation and incentives over the last five years offered a way of reducing the cost of manufacture the company was looking for a way to make Fiji a manufacturing base.

Bruce Birtwhistle, the regional manager based in Auckland, was passionate in achieving the objective of establishing the manufacturing facility in Fiji. New Zealand had for many years supplied Bellingham pontoons out of New Zealand but Bruce realised the many advantages for the South Pacific market in constructing product within the region.

Bellingham Pontoons now manufactured at Fantasy Island.

Local manufacturers can enjoy very real advantages in terms of end price under the Melanesian Spearhead Group arrangements. Fiji is also offering a low duty of only five percent on components imported and used in manufacture. Because of the high local cost for the polyurethane cores which are the basis of the pontoon manufacturing process the company is also considering building their own plant

Just recently two of the country’s best know marine service operators, Hall Dredging and Bob Oldham formed a Joint Venture called Marine Structures and Consultancy (Fiji) Limited.

Bob Oldham had worked on many Bellingham projects in Fiji and had an excellent relationship with the NZ Bellingham group so the new JV entered into an agreement to operate under license to manufacture Bellingham pontoons .

Hall Dredging already had a large land base in the new Port Fantasy Marina, where all Hall Fiji land services are centred and this is where the Bellingham manufacturing plant is situated. In the last week of July the first Bellingham pontoons were manufactured there in the presence of New Zealand management, who gave the Fiji pontoons their stamp of approval.

Marine Structures are certain that the availability of both Bellingham pontoons and the service and advice availably more easily within the region will provide huge marketing opportunities.

And the new plant will significantly reduce the capital outflow, and making a strong contribution to the Fiji economy,

| A SunonLinr release  ||  August 5,  2017   |||

A plastics processing facility in Lower Hutt now has the capacity to turn over 200 million plastic drink bottles a year into high grade food-safe packaging, thanks to a $4 million Government grant.

The facility was today opened by Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith and Associate Minister Scott Simpson.

“This new plastics processing facility is an important part of the Government’s programme of building New Zealand’s recycling infrastructure. We are encouraging Councils and the public to do more to recycle plastics like soft drink bottles and fruit and vegetable punnets, but we also need the facilities in New Zealand to be able to remanufacture them into usable products,” Dr Smith says.

“The significance of this project and the Government’s $4 million investment is for the first time having the capacity to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic into food safe packaging. This high-tech, onshore recycling solution will mean greater employment in New Zealand, less energy used in transport and a reduction in the importation of virgin PET plastics for manufacturing.

“China recently announced a ban on importing waste and recyclables from other countries, including New Zealand. This will reduce end markets for our recyclables, and makes it even more important that we are able to recycle on shore. Flight Plastics will be able to recycle 6000 tonnes of the 8000 tonnes of PET plastic collected for recycling each year in New Zealand.

“As a country we need to be thinking smarter about ways to reduce our waste, and this facility will provide a fundamental change in the way plastic waste is managed,” Mr Simpson says.

“It is pleasing to be able to back an innovative project such as this, which shows Kiwi ingenuity is able to develop practical ideas which enhance our clean, green image.

“The expense of new infrastructure, as well as cost of getting products from one place to another for recycling, has sometimes limited opportunities for on-shore economic development in this space. This is where our Waste Minimisation Fund shows its strengths. The Government’s dedicated fund, created through a levy on waste disposed of at landfills, is available to support these kinds of projects.”

The Waste Minimisation Fund provides financial support to projects that reduce environmental harm and provide social, economic and cultural benefits. It is funded from a levy introduced by the National-led Government in 2009, which is charged on waste disposed of at landfills to discourage waste and to fund recycling initiatives. More than $80 million has been awarded to more than 130 projects to date.

|  A Beehive release  ||  August 2,  2017   |||