Green Gorilla Sustainability News
GREEN STAR ACCREDITED
16/08/2023
Great news - waste diversion process at our Waste Processing Facility has been audited and verified by Toitu, an approved NZ Green Building Council auditor.
What is Green Star?
It is a rating system adapted by the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC) that scores a building's performance and environmental impact. Green Star assesses the critical elements of a project's sustainability across key categories. Each category includes a benchmark for a lower-carbon, healthy project. The total number of points awarded decides the final Green Star rating.
Green Star ratings are available for every commercial building type; from schools and hospitals to office buildings, shopping centres, and industrial warehouses.
AUCKLAND CONSTRUCTION WASTE
25/08/2021
What's the Problem?
A new house build produces approx. 4.5 tonnes of waste!
In this day and age, it's not acceptable to dump straight to Auckland landfill.
Construction waste represents:
• 50% of all waste generated in New Zealand,
• 20% of all waste going to landfill
• 80% of all waste going to cleanfill
Most construction waste is new materials that homeowners have bought and paid for.
Environmental costs from waste disposal include:
• limited reuse of landfill sites due to potential health hazards
• energy required in the transportation
• pollution to land, air and water from heavy metals and toxic chemicals
• greenhouse gas emissions
• depletion of resources
• degradation of local environments by location of landfills and cleanfills
Green Gorilla are different from other waste collectors
CONSTRUCTION WASTE IN AUCKLAND LANDFILLS
1/06/2021
Approx. 50% of all landfill is Construction and Demolition waste. Its volume dominates all other waste types.
What is Construction and Demolition Waste? It’s the (non-hazardous) timber and wood fibre, concrete and clean fill, plasterboard and metal waste generated from Auckland’s commercial and residential building, renovations, and demolition projects. These materials can be salvaged, reused or recycled; however, they are often unnecessarily dumped into landfills.
There’s no silver bullet for changing this behaviour; however, a growing number of companies and organisations are working hard for change.
Green Gorilla can achieve over 70% construction waste diversion with no unique on-site waste separation required. In a single day, we extract five tonnes of nails and metals from Auckland construction waste and divert it from landfills.
Contact Green Gorilla for your Auckland construction waste skip bins and recycling.
DIVERTING WASTE FROM LANDFILL
25/05/2020
How Green Gorilla's environmental initiatives can help stimulate growth.
By diverting Auckland's commercial waste from landfill, Green Gorilla offers more jobs to Kiwis, reduce ratepayers' landfill maintenance costs, and keeps profits in New Zealand. We create a better environmental outcome for Auckland's waste.
CONSTRUCTION ENCOURAGED TO BE SUSTAINABLE
03/05/2020
Nicole Bremner reports from Green Gorilla for TV1.
The Green Building Council is calling for all "shovel-ready" projects to be sustainable to reduce landfill waste countrywide.
The Council's call comes as industrial waste plants reopen, and the construction sector gets back to work after the lockdown.
"Covid-19 gives us a huge opportunity to reset and think about this," says Andrew Eagles, Green Building Council Chief Executive.
"There is a real opportunity for the Government to be leading by not just funding but walking the walk and reducing waste themselves on these 'shovel ready projects they're talking about."
Green Gorilla offers Auckland construction, commercial and industrial companies a more sustainable option than waste companies that dump waste directly to landfills.
AUCKLAND’S COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE PROCESSING FACILITY
16/04/20
Green Gorilla's Commercial and Industrial waste service
Our state-of-the-art waste processing facility uses a series of augers, screens, density separators, eddy currents and optical sorters to separate different types of waste for reuse. Using this processing facility Green Gorilla can recover much of your general waste that would previously have gone to landfill. That’s an excellent result for businesses and organisations who want to improve their sustainability.
What are the benefits to your business?
RECYCLED GYPSUM FOR NZ GROWERS
01/04/2020
Recycled plasterboard waste example
The New Zealand avocado industry is a big gypsum user because avocado trees are acid-loving plants. Gypsum applications are an excellent way to obtain the high calcium levels required by avocado trees without raising soil pH.
Our building and construction partners' plasterboard off-cuts is the material that makes Green Gorilla gypsum. Our waste processing facility separates the gypsum from the paper in the plasterboard off-cuts and then made available for sale.
The construction and demolition industries create 50% of all waste in New Zealand. Green Gorilla can recycle more than 70% of the waste produced from a construction site.
Start using Gorilla Bags for plasterboard waste and help grow tasty avocados!
GREEN GORILLA TIME-LAPSE VIDEO
09/01/20
Our Commercial & Industrial Waste Processing Facility construction in a 90 sec time-lapse.
The facility’s potential is remarkable. It can divert up to 40% of waste from general waste bins that previously would have gone straight into landfills. That’s a game-changer for Auckland businesses wanting to improve their sustainability performance. For businesses that cannot sort and separate their waste, this facility will do it for you.
Auckland Recycling & Waste Solutions are Green Gorilla's priority.
WATCH THIS VIDEO
CONSTRUCTION WASTE RECYCLING
24/12/19
This Ministry of the Environment video presents a short overview of our Construction and Demolition Waste Processing Facility that diverts approx 75-80% of construction, building and demolition waste from Auckland landfills.
Green Gorilla is a case study to explain how the waste levy can assist businesses that divert waste from landfills.
WATCH THE VIDEO
WATER CONSERVATION AT GREEN GORILLA
09/10/2019
Green Gorilla collects rainwater from the roofs of our waste processing facility.
Water tanks located around our facility store two hundred forty thousand litres of water. Our collected water is used during the waste processing and also for machinery and truck washing. By harvesting rainwater, we reduce piped water usage and decrease our operating costs.
BLACK WOODCHIP SUPPLIES
26/08/2019
Our waste wood comes from our Auckland construction clients. Green Gorillas Waste Processing Facility achieves approx. 80% diversion from landfills.
Here are a few facts about our coloured woodchip:
- Made up of air-dried recycled untreated timber
- Is made up of a water-based dye, so the colour will not run
- Long-term stability with a slow breakdown
- A perfect foundation for playgrounds or landscaping projects
- Free from seeds & plant matter
- Available in natural as well as black
- Free draining 'knitted' product
Call us on 09 636 2244 for pickup or delivery of large industry volumes of dry high-quality landscape chips (orders over 35m3).
EV MACHINERY AND A NZ FIRST
22/07/2019
100% Electrically powered materials handler. Like all our electricity at Green Gorilla, it’s 100% renewable and carboNZero certified electricity sourced from wind, hydro and solar electricity by the excellent folk at Ecotricity.
The Bonny is an essential link in the new expansion of our facility. Green Gorilla expects to divert up to 40% of commercial and industrial waste from Auckland business's general waste bins.
Commercial and Industrial Waste Processing Facility
24/08/2019
Our latest facility will sort Auckland general waste that other commercial waste collection services would typically send to Auckland landfills.
We expect to divert up to 40% of the waste from landfills from general waste bins. It may be cheaper to dump waste in Auckland landfills. Still, we believe there are better ways to deal with commercial rubbish. Investment in this facility is essential for Auckland businesses and their sustainability journeys.
MANAGING COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL WASTE
13/08/2019
Green Gorilla's Commercial and Industrial Waste Processing Facility is the first of its kind in New Zealand. It’s big news for Auckland businesses and organisations who want the best outcomes for all their waste.
Commercial and industrial waste that would typically go straight into landfills goes through our new facility for sorting and separation. Through a series of mechanical and manual processes, we’re expecting approx. 30% of the waste will be diverted away from landfills.
It’s an inspiring time at Green Gorilla. We are proud to be the first and only company in New Zealand to offer this level of sustainability for commercial and industrial waste.
RECYCLING PROJECT SUPPORTED BY MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
16/05/2019
Green Gorilla receives a Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) grant of nearly $3.1 million. Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced the funding to enable Auckland recycling firm Green Gorilla to divert 40,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste from landfills annually.
“It is pleasing to be able to support an innovative project that is a significant step toward delivering Auckland businesses with viable alternatives to landfills.
“This is an essential part of reducing waste across the region, and I am confident that Green Gorilla’s project will provide opportunities for new businesses that utilise the recovered materials, bringing new jobs.
“As a country, we need to be thinking more thoughtful about ways to maintain the value of our resources, taking circular economy approaches to design waste out of the system. This facility will provide a fundamental change in the way Auckland’s commercial and industrial waste is managed.
“The large expense of new infrastructure and the ability to take advantage of technologies used overseas can be beyond the budgets of local businesses, and that is where our WMF shows its strengths,” Mrs Sage says.
Green Gorilla’s CEO, Graeme Bowkett said that “the company will construct a large scale commercial and industrial waste sorting facility at its Onehunga site which will allow it to recover, reuse or recycle commercial and industrial materials alongside its existing construction and demolition sorting facility. The highly mechanised plant will double the overall capacity of the site and allow the company to offer additional cost-effective landfill diversion services to its thousands of Auckland customers.”
The WMF provides financial support to projects that reduce environmental harm and provide social, economic and cultural benefits. Funded from a levy charged on waste disposal at landfills to discourage waste and support waste minimisation initiatives, more than $92 million has been awarded to more than 150 projects to date.
ELECTRIC WASTE COLLECTION TRUCK
16/05/2019
Our first EV truck has been a success, so we've recently invested in a 2nd vehicle!
Green Gorilla EV collection trucks are silent and have zero emissions, making them the perfect vehicle for servicing high-density environments like apartment buildings. The electric power train generates much less vibration, heat and noise, creating driver-friendly work conditions and a smoother, smoother, and quiet truck than diesel vehicles.
No fossil fuels or emissions are involved in their day-to-day operations. Like all our electricity at Green Gorilla, it's 100% renewable and carboNZero certified electricity sourced from wind, hydro and solar electricity by the excellent folk at Ecotricity. Green Gorilla operate two EV collection trucks and eight electric sales and operations vehicles. We also have EV charging stations at our operations base in Onehunga to support these vehicles.
WASTE PLASTERBOARD RECYCLING
04/01/2019
Green Gorilla's recycling of waste plasterboard is explained in this video by Nicole Bremner of TV1 News.
Click the image to check out the video.
We work with construction and building companies to divert their plasterboard to create recycled gypsum and save it from Auckland landfill sites. Horticultural and dairy industries use our recycled gypsum to enrich their soil. Our Waste Processing Facility recycled 4000 tonnes of gypsum in 2016, and we are aiming to create 8000 tonnes in 2019.
If you are a user of gypsum in New Zealand, contact us today.
DEALING WITH CONSTRUCTION WASTE
03/01/2019
RNZ INSIGHT PROGRAMME ON WASTE MINIMISATION BY TERESA COWIE.
Divert NZ construction waste from landfill sites
As landfills countrywide continue to grow every year, major construction firms are doing their bit to reduce waste in the sector. Demolition rubbish makes up half of what's thrown away.
Some of those in the building industry believe an increase in landfill charges is due. Teresa Cowie, RNZ Insight investigates.
Listen to the full report and watch the video featuring Graeme Bowkett CEO of Green Gorilla discussing our gypsum recycling operation.
Listen to the Podcast: rnz.co.nz/insight
Watch video: https://lnkd.in/geFgWjE
HONEY BEES AND RUBBISH RECYCLING
17/09/2017
Green Gorilla beehives are tucked away in a small section of our Onehunga facility and this year, we had our first small honey harvest.
Sometimes it can be dirty and noisy around our operations, so our team wanted to give the local environment a helping hand by establishing beehives. We're very excited about the bees and their work.
Although the amount of honey is small and we can't offer it for sale, there's something extraordinary about having your brand of honey! And check out the honey labels! We commissioned Mitch Hejl of Relish Creative to design a label and were blown away by the result.
Did you know? Bees usually forage up to 3 km from their hive, so our bees might be gathering pollen from Cornwall Park in the north to Mangere in the south.
