Items filtered by date: Tuesday, 02 December 2014

A new forestry service was launched in Rotorua on Friday, honouring a coalition commitment between New Zealand First and Labour to support regional development.  Forestry Minister Shane Jones said the launch of Te Uru Rakau was the first step in re-establishing a forestry service in New Zealand.

"This Government has been clear about its commitment to New Zealand’s forestry sector and the One Billion Trees planting programme.

A United States-based chemical engineer has rubbished claims that no safe alternative exists for fumigating export timber and logs.  New Zealand's Environmental Protection Authority has recently allowed the industry to apply to have a critical deadline extended on the use of methyl bromide.

The Authority said eight years ago that users would need to have new technology in place by 2020 to collect and store the used gas after fumigation, preventing its spread into the atmosphere.

Methyl Bromide is described by the EPA as an "extremely toxic and ozone-depleting substance" and is banned except for use on logs and timber products for export, as part of quarantine requirements.

The group representing logging and timber exporters, and which has been trying to find an alternative, has convinced the authority it cannot meet that deadline.

Stakeholders in Methyl Bromide Reduction chair Don Hammond said that when the 2010 decision was made there was an expectation that technology would have been created by now to recapture methyl bromide and, most importantly, destroy the used material.

There are New Zealand fashion labels who try their level best to keep the manufacturing local.  WritesAnuja Nadkarni for Stuff's BusinessDay.  They are completely legitimate in all aspects but how long willthis manufacturing resource be available

HiveTech's products provide the honey industry with pot-to-hive traceability.  A Taranaki company that provides "pot-to-hive" honey tracing technology is up against an agri-tech giant in the hunt for a national award.  Bell Block-based Hivetech Ltd is a finalist in the NZ Hi-Tech awards, to be held in Christchurch on May 25. The company provides technology solutions to the commercial beekeeping industry and is one of three finalists in Most Innovative Hi-Tech for the Agritech Sector category.

Food giant Heinz Wattie's is looking to cut more than 40 jobs in Hawke's Bay as part of an international push for efficiency and savings, but says it expects all redundancies to be voluntary.  Just two months after the company, which is part of global food company Kraft Heinz, received permission to buy the food and instant coffee business of fellow food company Cerebos Gregg's, it confirmed to Hawke's Bay Today that it had identified potential staff redundancies.

LGNZ President Dave Cull welcomes Minister of Local Government Hon Nanaia Mahuta’s announcement today that there will be a Productivity Commission inquiry into local government funding.

Orange-H Group, the McConnell entity set up to run down the residual Hawkins assets after the sale to Downer Group, has been tipped into receivership by its shareholder and creditor just 10 days after being ordered to pay $13.4 million over a leaky school

Critics Resent Heir’s Ability to Successfully Divine Future Public Preoccupations

So much to do so little time to do it in?  The real meaning of this is - you need a break!  Maybe its The Time Warp of Castro's Cuba, or it could be the Once-in-a-decade OBERAMMERGAU play but  if you can't wait till 2020 then there's Cruising the Coast of Vietnam.  All very different but each trip with a charm of its own - just click on the titles for details.

New Zealand's manufacturing activity accelerated in April, bouncing back from a lull in the first three months of the year, as a pick up in building intentions stoked production among building materials companies