6 December 2006

Kiwi creativity cuts Christmas waste

Kiwi creativity and a Christmas tradition will combine this weekend to make one of the world's biggest outdoor events more environmentally friendly, Environment Minister David Benson-Pope said today.

“Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park in Auckland this Saturday will be a huge event, with more than 350,000 people expected. Last year, concert-goers generated around 19,000 tonnes of waste," Mr Benson-Pope said.

"That's a huge amount of potential recycling, and it's great to see Kiwi ingenuity rise to the challenge for this year's event.

"Portable recycling bins have been specially designed for the event, and each concert-goer will get one bag for rubbish, and one for recycling. Simple and ingenious schemes like this make it easy for us to keep looking after our environment."

The Christmas in the Park recycling initiative has been developed under the Packaging Accord, a voluntary agreement among industry, recycling operators, and central and local government to reduce packaging waste.

“Coca-Cola is showing real leadership working to ensure Christmas in the Park makes it easy for people to reduce their rubbish on the night,” Mr Benson-Pope said. "The fact that the bins are designed and made here in New Zealand just makes it even better.

“Christmas in the Park is a Kiwi tradition and a fantastic family event. It’s also an ideal time to give everyone a simple reminder and simple steps on how to reduce waste.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media