News Direct: Media releases
Whangarei likes electric vehicles
16 Aug 2018
Whangarei, winner of the most electric vehicle friendly town in New Zealand award, has a big advantage over other regions.
Mercury mission to convert hearts as well as minds
7 Mar 2018
Mercury has taken a step to inspire New Zealanders to embrace the future of transportation with a hi-tech conversion of a classic car.
Calix gets finance for carbon-captue project
1 Feb 2018
Australian technology company Calix says it has secured 3.4 million euros in working capital from Efic, the Australian Government’s export credit agency, to build a carbon dioxide-capture facility for the Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement project in Belgium.
Minesto eyes first ocean current electricity generation
24 Jan 2018
Swedish marine energy developer Minesto is intensifying activities in Taiwan to establish the company's unique Deep Green technology in the Asian market.
Mercury confirms Tesla battery for grid trial
23 Jan 2018
Tesla has been confirmed as the battery provider for Mercury’s scalable national grid-connected battery trial, following a competitive tender process that began in September last year.
Auckland takes zero-waste world crown
6 Dec 2017
Auckland is one of 10 international cities honoured today at the C40 Cities Awards in Chicago which recognises the world’s most inspiring and innovative cities tackling climate change.
Ravensdown appoints consenting planner
1 Dec 2017
Ravensdown has appointed Victoria Caseley as a principal planner to develop the consenting capability in its environmental consultancy.
Ethical retailer attracts $2m in investments
27 Nov 2017
In one of the biggest capital raises for a social enterprise in New Zealand’s history, the ethical retailer champion Conscious Consumers has attracted $2 million of investment for its upcoming launch into the United Kingdom.
AirNZ first airline to join EV100
13 Nov 2017
Reinforcing its leadership position in the shift to electric vehicles, Air New Zealand has been announced as the first airline to join The Climate Group’s EV100 initiative.
Auckland Council wins waste award
13 Nov 2017
Auckland Council has again been recognised for its commitment to delivering zero-waste, this time by the New Zealand waste management industry’s WasteMINZ Awards for Excellence.
Youth hostels reach sustainable milestone
24 Nov 2016
YHA New Zealand is the first accommodation network in the world be certified by CarboNZero.
Sharp's green efforts pay dividend
24 Nov 2016
Sharp Corporation’s efforts to responsibly manage the environmental effects of its products have been recognised with accreditation to the Product Stewardship Scheme, Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith says.
Business network wins sustainability award
10 Oct 2016
The Sustainable Business Network has won the Sustainability Support category in AUT’s Excellence in Business Support Awards.
Children's sunscreen fails tests
22 Sep 2016
Makers of a children’s sunscreen marketed as “organic” have been warned by the Commerce Commission following a complaint from Consumer NZ.
Child labour not for us, says Karen Walker
12 Aug 2016
Kiwi clothing designer Karen Walker has certified that none of its garments are made using child labour.
Farm trust honours regional winners
8 Jun 2016
Supreme winners from the 11 regions participating in the 2016 Ballance Farm Environment Awards will be honoured at New Zealand Farm Environment Trust’s National Sustainability Showcase this month.
Canon offers prizes to environmentalists
7 Jun 2016
Canon New Zealand’s 2016 Environmental Grants Programme is open.
School gets first Powerwall battery
16 May 2016
New Zealand’s first Tesla Energy Powerwall battery has been switched on at a South Auckland primary school.
Small meat producer wins help from the experts
28 Apr 2016
A specialist pork and beef producer has won a nationwide competition to have some of the country’s top experts help to promote the business.
Business incubator has high hopes for Northland
7 Apr 2016
Ranui Sustainable, a Whangarei-based business incubator with the mission to make Northland the most sustainable region in the Southern Hemisphere by 2025, is launching a Kiwi Innovators programme to connect Northlanders with New Zealand’s best thinkers in sustainable innovation.
Sunny days bring out new storage battery
1 Apr 2016
Wellington’s sunny weather has attracted a nationwide solar power company to launch the first installation in New Zealand of a new technology residential storage battery, charged by solar power at a Wellington home today.
Kaimira wins wines sustainability award
31 Mar 2016
The debut Organic Wine Awards Sustainable Vineyard of the Year title has been awarded to Kaimira Estate.
Eco tours operators win Marlborough accolade
31 Mar 2016
Will and Rose Parsons have long known that good environmental practice is good business practice, too.
Huhtamaki plans energy cuts
10 Mar 2016
Moulded-fibre manufacturer Huhtamaki plans to cut energy consumption by 5 per cent a year, reducing annual carbon emissions by 417 tonnes.
Watercare sets 2025 biogas target
29 Feb 2016
Auckland water company Watercare says that by 2025, its two biggest wastewater treatment plants will be powered entirely from biogas produced from the city’s sewage.
Concrete innovator wins expansion money
26 Feb 2016
Concrete-block manufacturer Interbloc has been recognised for its efforts to manage the environmental effects of its products – and received $430,000 of Government money to expand its recycling project.
NZ Post switches to electric mail delivery
15 Feb 2016
New Zealand Post is making a significant investment in its parcel and mail business with the addition of new Paxster electric delivery vehicles to its fleet.
Panasonic launches home storage battery
15 Feb 2016
Panasonic New Zealand has launched its first lithium-ion home storage battery - a system that can sense and store excess clean solar energy to power the household in the evening once the solar system has stopped producing.
Harrisons signs solar panel deal
15 Feb 2016
Harrisons Energy Solutions has announced an exclusive distribution partnership that brings one its solar panel optimisers to New Zealand households.
Toyota dealers save on energy costs
30 Nov 2015
Toyota dealers around the country have saved a total of $125,000 in energy costs as part of a drive to get Enviro-Mark Gold certification.
Eco tours operator impresses judges
12 Oct 2015
A successful business driven by the ethos of inspiration through adventure is how judges described Queenstown’s Ziptrek Ecotours in announcing it as the winner of the Environmental Tourism Award at this year’s Tourism Industry Awards.
Green cleaners no better than water, says watchdog
7 Sep 2015
Manufacturers of laundry balls market them as an “environmentally friendly” cleaning option.
Kia remains our only CarboNZero certified car company
7 Sep 2015
Kia is the only car company in New Zealand that has gained certification by CarboNZero.
Accounting for your Meridian bill takes Xero energy
7 Sep 2015
Xero and Meridian Energy have announced a partnership that will save Kiwi businesses time, energy and paper when accounting for their electricity bill.
Coca-Cola meeting water marks
31 Aug 2015
Coca-Cola says it will meet its 2020 water replenishment goal – to return to local communities as much water as the company uses - by the end of this year.
Peace Park gets new plantings
31 Aug 2015
Making a difference to the environment is something the team at Crowne Plaza Queenstown is passionate about – and they’re happy to get their hands dirty to prove it.
Green Star rating widens field
3 Aug 2015
The Green Star building rating has been widened to include social and financial innovation as well as environmental excellence.
Canon opens grants programme
8 Jun 2015
Canon New Zealand is calling for not-for-profit organisations and schools championing environmental initiatives to apply for its 2015 environmental grants programme.
Japan and Mongolia switch on to planting plan
8 Jun 2015
Panasonic’s international tree-planting project has hit Japan and China.
Artificial grass goes green
8 Jun 2015
Artificial grass just went green with Eco Lawn providing new eco-friendly artificial grass options that tick all the boxes, the company says.
Bank's Auckland office wins green accolade
18 May 2015
Innovative design and exemplary waste minimisation has helped BNZ to achieve a 5 Green Star Office Interiors rating for the two newest floors of its central Auckland office.
Fibreboard coffins out, pine caskets in
11 May 2015
Davis Funerals now uses caskets that are better for the environment.
Waste Warriors shift the waste
11 May 2015
Z Energy’s Waste Warriors competition has diverted 191 tonnes of waste - the equivalent of two Olympic-sized swimming pools full of waste – away from landfills in two months.
Competitive edge the secret, say farm ambassadors
11 May 2015
New Zealand dairy farmers shouldn’t lose sight of their competitive advantage, say farm environment ambassadors Mark and Devon Slee, who recently returned from a study tour of the Northern Hemisphere.
Battery-maker claims world first
4 May 2015
Energizer has launched what it says is the world’s first high-performance recycled battery.
No need for some soil additives, says report
28 Apr 2015
New research shows that farmers don’t need to add humic and fulvic acid artificially because of a high level of organic matter in New Zealand soils, Balance Agric-Nutrients says.
Tuvalu awards contract for solar power plants
20 Apr 2015
Solarcity and Infratec Renewables have been awarded a $780,000 contract to build 170kW of solar photovoltaic arrays across two government-owned buildings in Funafuti, Tuvalu.
Drink bottle recycle campaign gets more funding
20 Apr 2015
The annual Keep New Zealand Beautiful drink bottle recycling scheme will see nearly $180,000 injected into community initiatives across the country, to educate and encourage people to recycle more, thanks to the Coca-Cola Foundation Grants Programme.
Carpooler chases crowd funding
30 Mar 2015
Chariot, New Zealand’s first carpooling and ride sharing app, has launched an equity crowd-funding campaign.
Award-winner reopens show home
30 Mar 2015
Award-winning Rilean Construction is re-opening an energy efficient Evolution Series show home near Queenstown, as substantial demand for sustainable living continues to grow.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
NZ hydrogen regulation to catch up with the world
18 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | The government has announced a regulatory reset for New Zealand’s emerging clean tech hydrogen sector.
State-owned farmer drives profit growth with emissions reductions
19 Dec 2025
By Pattrick Smellie | Government-owned Landcorp, trading as Pāmu, is one-third of the way to meeting its 2031 emissions reduction targets, with five years left to run to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30.3% against 2021 emissions.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
