Gisborne to Have New Zealand’s First Te Reo Māori
Waste Bin Labels
Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon welcomes the launch of Waste Management initiative in introducing New Zealand’s first private
subscription bi-lingual Te Reo Māori and English waste bin labels
Gisborne, 10 September 2018: Waste Management NZ Limited joined Gisborne Mayor, Meng Foon, at a special assembly at Kaiti School today to celebrate
the launch of the country’s first bilingual (Te Reo Māori / English) private subscription waste bin label programme.
Coinciding with the upcoming Māori Language Week (10 – 16 September), Waste Management is now providing Te Reo Māori /
English labels for all of its new residential and commercial bins in Gisborne.
This follows work by the principal of Kaiti School, Billie-Jean Potaka Ayton, Gisborne District Council, and members of
the community, who consulted on the translation of 10 different types of waste bins into Te Reo Māori.
“This is a very welcome initiative in bringing more Te Reo Māori into everyone’s daily lives, and I’m proud that
Gisborne is the first to lead this welcome development working with Waste Management,” Mayor Foon said.
“Strong community interest sparked our local team from Gisborne to embark on creating bilingual labels for both our
residential and commercial customers” said Waste Management General Manager Lower North Island, David Howie.
“We celebrate and encourage the use of New Zealand’s native language. This is a simple step to help bring Te Reo Māori
into the forefront of everyday conversation.
“The Mayor’s attendance at today’s launch is greatly appreciated and we are delighted he backs this initiative.”
Principal of Kaiti School, Billie-Jean Potaka Ayton says the new labels are a fantastic, practical way to better
familiarise her students and the community with the Māori language.
“Our students are delighted with the new Te Reo Māori labels and are already eagerly learning the names for the
different types of waste bins.”
This is part of a wider initiative Waste Management is looking at expanding to further regions over the next 12 months.
These regions will have their own translation based on local dialect.
ENDS