Hazmobile Collection Turns Up Lots of Nasties

The Hazmobile collection throughout the Bay of Plenty received plenty of hazardous chemicals over the last three weeks.

The Hazmobile visited Opotiki, Tauranga, Katikati and Te Puke to collect household hazardous waste.

Large numbers of accidents waiting to happen were avoided, according to Paul Futter of Environment Bay of Plenty. Many of the hazardous substances that came out of cars last week were definitely dangerous to people and the environment, said Mr Futter.

Over 550 cars went through the Maleme Street Transfer station in Tauranga and there were queues most of the day. Opotiki received about 60 cars, Katikati 175 and Te Puke 245 carloads of hazardous waste.

Items collected at the Hazmobile visit included oil, household cleaners, batteries, paint and thinners. Most of the waste received by the Hazmobile is recycled. Paint is remixed and added into grafitti paint, steel cans and many other containers are recycled and oil is refined for use as fuel.

EcoFest Day held on the same day as the Tauranga Hazmobile collection also had plenty of visitors. Kids enjoyed making great arts and crafts from recycled materials and listening to Angie Belcher tell some great environmental stories.

BeeBOP and Woody Weed also came along to EcoFest Day to talk to the kids about what they could do to reduce their waste. Over 50 entries were received in the Pollution Busters Sticker Design Competition and the winners were Emily Mae McCarthy, age 6 from Tauranga, Kathryn Brawn, age 8 from Te Puke and Stephanie Murphy, age 12 from Te Puke.

The worm farming demonstrations also proved popular with all ages.
The Toyota new hybrid car, the Prius, received a lot of attention from drivers and potential drivers.

EcoFest BOP and the Hazmobile visits were sponsored by Environment Bay of Plenty.

EcoFest Day was a great opportunity to talk to members of the community about environmental issues said Sarah McCorkindale, Environmental Education Manager for Environment Bay of Plenty.

Another Tauranga event, the EcoChallenge took place on Saturday 6th March at the Mount Cosmopolitan Club. Organised by Tauranga Environment Centre, the quiz was for teams of six to test their knowledge on the environment.

Events also took place in Rotorua, including a Zero Waste Day at Pak’n’Save supermarket, an EnviroChallenge with all the local high schools and a business networking event for businesses to find out how reducing their business waste can reduce their business costs. Recycle Rotorua with targets set to encourage recycling achieved the diversion of more than 30 tonnes of waste from land fills during EcoFest BOP this year.

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