Capital’s pedal-powered recycling scheme
Approximately 75,000 tonnes of organic waste goes to landfill every year and, according to Wellington City Council, how we manage and minimise this waste is critical.
Kaicycle, a food-waste bicycle collection service based in the capital, is currently fundraising with PledgeMe to further their impact of reducing this waste.
Their ‘‘food recyclists’’ collect organic waste from residents and businesses in the Wellington CBD that want to be environmentally friendly, but don’t have access to composting facilities.
Kaicycle spokeswoman Kelly-Ann Barrett wants to raise awareness that food scraps are not waste but a very useful resource.
‘‘We are working towards a system change that reconnects us with our food,’’ she says.
‘‘To do this, we need to educate and build infrastructure, and to do that we need financial support.’’
The new company - part of the workerBe oasis - operates out of an urban farm in Newtown and uses an electric bicycle for collection.
‘‘The donations will help build a shelter which we can use to store our trailers and buckets and will double as an educational centre.
‘‘The council currently manages ‘Kai to Compost’ which is a larger scale food waste service but does not cater for smaller scale food waste producers, such as small to medium sized businesses.’’
According to the Ministry for the Environment, the national average of organic waste being discarded as kerbside rubbish is approximately 30 per cent.
‘‘There are a number of Wellington residents and businesses interested in our service and we would like to be available to them,’’ says Barrett.
‘‘Unfortunately, our current infrastructure limits the number of customers we can take on and our team is also currently run largely by volunteers.’’
Jasmine Serepisos, from CoreLogic, uses Kaicycle and says its office of more than 100 staff is full of foodies.
‘‘With an office in the Cuba Quarter, we are spoilt with excellent lunch options,’’ she says.
‘‘But this can add up to a lot of leftovers.
‘‘The guys at Kaicycle are awesome and do a weekly pickup of our composting bin, which is really wellused.
‘‘This is just one little way we can make a positive environmental impact and CoreLogic is proud to be one of Kaicycle’s first corporate supporters.’’
City councillor David Lee thinks the concept is sound and could help us to have a more circular approach to waste. ‘‘Traditionally, we have been a bit linear in our approach, we produce, consume, then throw it away,’’ he says. ‘‘Projects like this can bring about a far more sustainable approach to consumption while keeping organic waste away from landfills.’’ Barrett said Kaicycle is still some way off its funding goal but she hopes the people of Wellington will get behind it. ‘‘Every donation contributes towards a greener future and helps us grow Wellington’s local food system.’’