The attempt to reduce waste gained impetus in Rotorua with added Government funding.

Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage announced a grant of $480,000 for three research projects at Scion during a visit in BOP on Thursday.

The grant is being made to 'reduced the impact of plastics”, says Eugenie.

It's also about improving 'knowledge about composting, and [to] reduce product labelling waste”.

While at Scion, she was shown 'some great new planter bags made of cellulose not plastic”.

Last week, the Minister of Regional Economic Development Shane Jones was also shown how the planter sacs were made.

'These bags mean we can avoid the One Billion Trees project generating millions of plastic planter bags,” Eugenie says.

'And it reduces stress on the seedlings when they are planted as the bag stays on, composts and the roots grow through.”