Rotorua Aquatic Centre First In Country To Take Gold Environment Award

ROTORUA 05.07.10: Rotorua Aquatic Centre has become the first swimming facility in New Zealand to achieve Qualmark’s prestigious Enviro-Gold Award, which recognises the country’s highest standards in environmental practice.

The Rotorua District Council-owned facility has earned top honour in New Zealand tourism’s official environmental awards by demonstrating highly effective energy efficiency, waste management and water conservation. Community activities and conservation initiatives are also considered under Qualmark’s environmental grading criteria.

All businesses carrying the Qualmark logo must meet minimum standards for environmental practice, with the Enviro awards recognising the top performers.

RDC’s Aquatic & Leisure manager Louis Sylvester says the achievement is a result of dedicated Aquatic Centre staff constantly thinking of ways to support and implement sustainability.

“Achieving gold status is a significant stepping stone in the way we address the ecological impact of our business so we can minimise our environmental footprint.

“By also engaging well with our community, we can further develop ways to increase the effectiveness of our environmental business practices.

“Rotorua rocks and we’re heavily committed to contributing towards a healthy environment for our residents.”

Council CE Peter Guerin described news of the Enviro-Gold award as “fantastic.” He said it had clearly involved a big effort, a lot of coordination and excellent input from the whole aquatic centre team.

Community Services Director Charles Roberts added that it was a tremendous acknowledgement of the energy and attention to detail by everyone at the Aquatic Centre who continually put sustainability into action as an everyday part of their work routine.

Over 470 New Zealand businesses have achieved Enviro Award status - recognising their commitment to Qualmark’s responsible tourism criteria and environmental practices, with Rotorua Aquatic Centre being the country’s first to pick up an Enviro-Gold award.

ENDS

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