Council’s recycling education centre officially opened
Mayor Kevin Winters cuts the rope at the opening of Resource.
Resource, the new education centre at the city's Recycling Centre, officially opened yesterday (10 May) after a year's planning by Rotorua District Council (RDC).
The revamped centre is based in the former Urban Ore shop, and focuses on household recycling, solid waste, pollution control, waste water and fresh water, through a series of interactive and stationary displays.
Resource is open by appointment only but open days will also be held for the general public.
RDC Keep Rotorua Beautiful coordinator, Christine Findon, said she is pleased that after many months of planning Resource is now available as an educational tool for the community.
Education changes behaviour and that's always a positive thing.
Our target group is school-aged children but also caters to the wider community. It provides an opportunity for the council to promote efficient use of our resources and to show locals how we manage some of our operations.
Inside we have a mock-landfill, interactive displays with paper, plastic, glass, and metal, a challenge on packaging options, creations from RDC's Wearable Arts collection, a tap that children can fill with fresh Rotorua water, displays on the waste water treatment process and the nasty things that get into our drainage system and lakes, and much more.
Mrs Findon said the building is also available to local organisations for off-site meetings.