The Government is beefing up Hawke's Bay's Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount of waste and rubbish the cyclone left in its wake

"Cyclone Gabrielle was the worst storm New Zealand has ever seen, Associate Environment Minister Rachel Brooking said in Hawke's Bay today.

"It carried all manner of materials in its path, including household contents, building materials, machinery and plastics.

"It also severely damaged the region's waste infrastructure, and that's made the job of cleaning up after the cyclone even harder.

"Helping communities get back on their feet after the devastating weather that hit Hawke's Bay and other parts of the country earlier this year is a real priority for the Government.

"That's why I'm really pleased to announce that we are allocating another $2.1 million from the Government's Waste Minimisation Fund (Te Ptea Whakamauru Para) to boost the region's waste-processing capacity," Rachel Brooking said.

The latest lot of funding is going to:

"These organisations play a key role minimising waste in Hawke's Bay, diverting materials from landfill and reducing waste-related emissions," Rachel Brooking said.

"Not only does this funding help increase local waste infrastructure and enable greater recovery of valuable resources, it is also a significant investment in the local area for years to come." 

The grants are on top of $988,300 announced in May for Hawke's Bay organics processing facility BioRich to help repair its Awatoto compost site. Biorich converts organic waste that would otherwise emit emissions in landfill into high-quality compost. It has now completed the first stage of repairs and is open to the public.

Source: Beehive