ENERGY
Windy Wellington
Wind generation currently provides over 4% of
New Zealand’s electricity. Project West Wind,
Meridian Energy's third wind farm, makes use
of a valuable but much maligned Wellington
resource - the capital's strong winds.
Construction began at the site in October 2007
and was completed by September 2009. On an
annual basis West Wind generates as much
electricity as 70,000 average New Zealand
homes would use in the same period. That is
the equivalent to powering all the homes in
Wellington City.
RECYCLING
What goes around comes around
Almost 65,000 households participate in
Wellington City Council’s new domestic kerbside
recycling service, with each household recycling
up to 15% more than last year. Wellington used
to have to pay a contractor to accept recycling -
now the Council are forecasting revenue of $1
million a year, which will fund about a quarter of
the collection costs. The Council also supports a
Waste Exchange programme, which is a free
service for businesses and organisations to
exchange unwanted materials and recyclables.
The Council provides grants to schools to
encourage them to recycle, and free kerbside
recycling service to schools, small community
centres and not-for-profit organisations.