Politics got dirty on the campaign trail in Hawke's Bay yesterday with two Cabinet ministers and a National Party candidate getting hands-on with a load of compost.
As part of a visit to the Bay, Environment Minister Amy Adams announced a $468,000 grant to Awatoto company BioRich, which has a growing business turning construction, demolition and industrial waste into compost.
The funding comes from the Government's Waste Minimisation Fund and will help the company expand its facility to accept waste streams such as bark, wool dust, paper towels, plasterboard and tannery waste.
BioRich owner Mike Glazebrook said the company was spending about $1 million on top of the grant to expand the business, with one job already created and the potential of more to come.
The company processes about 30,000 tonnes of organic waste annually and estimates the expanded facility will enable it to process an additional 6600 tonnes per year at the site.