• Landfill closed and a Refuse Transfer Station established.
• Landscaping of site, and trees are planted over landfill.
• Community begin researching alternatives to landfill.
• A wetland is developed by Whaingaroa Harbour Care. The old landfill leachate must passed through a set of ponds maintained by Xtreme Waste, followed by the wetland. Once the old landfill leachate reaches the harbour, the toxicity is depleted to the point where it is unable to be measured by Regional Council

• Local Educational Trust, Whakamaua-te-Aio, manage greenwaste and take over paper/ cardboard recycling. They also research a Business Plan & budget for a zero waste plan.
• The Trust is committed to advocating for Zero Waste in Raglan and working pro-actively with the Raglan community to achieve this goal.

• Growing on from Whakamaua-te-Aio, with the community supported establishment of a sole focused waste group, Xtreme Waste is established in May.
• Waikato District Council supports Xtreme Waste through provision of three year contract to establish and manage a Recycle Centre/ Transfer Station and kerbside recycle collection.

• Diversion of 74%.
• Xtreme Waste provides additional services – Business Collections and Rural pick up, resulting in a diversion of over 74% total volume of solid waste from going to landfill. Many Businesses find that a waste audit helps to reduce running costs.

• Diversion of 70%.
• Community group mentoring. XW begins to get approached for information. This grows into a waste minimisation information service, which includes phone support, facebook and email service available to the whole District with over 1,000 requests annually for information.
• The inaugural infamous Trolley Derby begins with an emphasis on recycling – trolley has to be made of 80% recycled materials!

• Diversion of 68%.
• Three-day workshop “Life with Waste”. The purpose of ‘Life with Waste’ is to further strengthen communities involved in waste minimization. In conjunction with the workshop is an exhibition “Art with Waste” featuring art and design from recycled items, and a “Fashion with Waste” event featuring an ‘upcycled fashion’ show.
• Waste Minimisation Act - At “Life With Waste” the first draft of the Waste Minimisation Act is created. This is taken on the road by the Green Party, and entered into the ballot at Parliment, along with another 150 draft legislations. It is chosen first out of the box (out of 4), and passed by parliament 2 years later. http://www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/waste/waste-minimisation.html
• Site tours of the Raglan Recycle Centre and Transfer Station begin. Over the next ten years Xtreme Waste hosts approximately 140 groups and over 3,500 people (and counting!)
• Take on our first major Event Recycling, with local eco reggae festival Sound Splash. Manage the recycling of SoundSplash for the following 5 years it runs.

• Diversion of 66%.
• CRN – Community Recycling Network – is established. Xtreme Waste becomes a member of this organization. The Community Recycling Network is the structured body that represents the voice of zero waste communities throughout Aotearoa.

• Diversion of 74%.
• With financial support from the Waikato District Council, a wood yard is built that resells second hand building materials. Previously, 300 cubic meters of building materials were sent to landfill. Not only does the development of the wood yard benefit the environmental impact, it also provides a great local service for the community, generates income and provides employment..

• Diversion of 72%.
• The Whaingaroa Community and Xtreme Waste receive both local and national recognition this year. The coveted Green Ribbon Award is awarded by the Ministry of Environment for Community Action for the Environment. At this year’s Waikato Sustainable Business Network Awards, Xtreme Waste win the category for Social Responsibility.

• Diversion of 70%.
• XW successfully negotiate a 7 year contract with WDC. This enables XW to borrow $250,000 to purchase much needed machinery, the local mini skip business, and provides the opportunity to get street bins & litter contracts. It ensures XW will be a presence for many years to come.
• Funding is received for a Zero Waste education programme in Waikato schools.

• Diversion of 74%.
• XW are involved with the Ministry for the Environment in the Love NZ Bins initiative. The initiative provides the opportunity for community, local, regional and central government to work together in an effort to ensure Raglan visitors and residents have every opportunity to recycle while out and about. How cool is that.

• Diversion of 74%. With the introduction of the street bins (Love NZ bins) the tonnage of waste to landfill is reduced by a whopping 15% to 1,228 tonnes.
• Turn over reaches 1 million! Within 10 years we go from collecting cardboard in our cars, to a million dollar operation employing 28 staff. Thanks to funding from WDC, these staff have a staff room built and the road in tarsealed.
• In October 2009 Xtreme Waste launches Para Kore (meaning zero waste) with the object of minimizing waste on marae.

• Diversion of 76% – Highest yet!
• Para Kore is such a success it becomes its own incorporated society, a separate identity
• 10 Years Anniversary with Cornerstone Roots playing.
• Site Restoration
• Thanks to a grant from DOC, 6500 trees are planted on site and a variety of traps are set to catch stoats, rats, and possums.
•  Liz receives funding to from the Waste Minimisation fund to conduct a feasibility study on an organic waste collection – over 44% of house hold waste is organic, with 25% of total waste being from the kitchen.

• Diversion of 78%
• Site Upgrade. With Gavin Melgren joining the Xtreme Waste Team as Operations Manager, the site gets major make over, enhancing the customer experience, and making products much more accessible for reusing or upcycling.

• Diversion of 73%
• Shop awning is built with part funding from WEL Energy. The awning extends the shop area and provides shelter for the public recycling area – much more pleasant for our community!
• With funding materials from Fonterra, our recyclables processing room received a clean crisp upgrade. Not only is it now an inspirational area for the crew to work in, it also reflects how valuable our recyclable materials are.
• Waste Audits are a great way for Xtreme Waste to put their knowledge into action, to help businesses reduce waste. The highlights of the past year were Waikato Stadium, Hamilton City Council and Waikato District Council.

• Zero Waste Education.

This highly successful programme is offered to every school in the Waikato district. Xtreme Waste has visited 210 schools (some repeatedly), delivered over 1,400 classes to over 35,000 students.

• Restoration

Xtreme Waste has planted over 6,000 trees and the programme set up to reduce possums rats, stoats, ferrets and cats on the Raglan Recycling Centre and Refuse Transfer site, has killed over 120 to date. The forest is an important bird habitat but is compromised by the history of waste disposal (largely weeds and animal pests). Xtreme Waste also works with WDC and WRC to control noxious plants throughout the adjoining forest areas.

• Community Mentoring

We have provided advice to 46 community groups on setting up recycling and waste minimization ventures. We supported the establishment of Wanaka Waste Busters, Arapuni Rural Recycling Centre, Seagull Reuse Centre in Thames and more recently a network of groups in Auckland City.

• Community workshops on zero waste topics

These include a range of topics such as reusable nappies, composting, women’s woodwork, worm farming and gardening. For more information on each year, you can download the Annual Reports from the Reports and Financial page.