AIMS Games winning over waste

Jessie Grant and Paige Boyle from Mount Intermediate are just two of the 40 Bay students helping divert 60 per cent of the AIMS Games' waste away from landfill. Photo / John Borren

The AIMS Games are making records on and off the field with organisers aiming to divert 60 per cent of the games' waste away from landfill this year.

For the fifth year, Waste Watchers are on board and have set themselves the biggest goal yet, with the help of 40 local students.

Waste minimisation adviser Hope Lawsen said they had met their waste diversion targets for three years of the past four, increasing their target each year.

The focus was on recycling and composting as much waste as possible, sending the smallest possible amount of waste to landfill.

Miss Lawsen encouraged supporters and spectators to take packed lunches in reusable containers instead of cling wrap and to take reusable drink bottles that could be filled at the grounds.

Students from Mount Maunganui Intermediate, Papamoa College, Tauranga Intermediate and Tahatai Coast School were monitoring the bins and helping people correctly recycle or compost.

The 40 volunteers were covering the three main parks - Blake Park, Tauranga Hockey Park, Waipuna Park and Arataki Park - where the 8007 competitors from 261 schools were competing for the week.

"We've got a really good bunch of kids this year," Miss Lawsen said. "I'm finding the recycling bins and compost bins are filling up much faster than the landfill bin."

Youngsters were a great group to work with because they were already switched on to recycling and composting, she said. "Kids are growing up with it now but adults didn't. Kids are thinking about it already."

AIMS Games tournament director Vicki Semple said children were more vigilant at recycling than adults.

"We're really proud of the recycling messages that we send out and we want to raise awareness of recycling and it's keeping our venues clean and tidy and looking amazing."

She said there was a cost for the waste-management programme, but it was manageable with a partnership with Tauranga City Council.

"We both contribute money to making sure the recycling programme is top class and the Waste Watchers team do that, they have a really awesome programme."

The tournament aimed to take care of the city and venues it used during the week-long event.