Rotorua Aquatic Centre Wins Gold Environment Award

Rotorua Aquatic Centre has become the first swimming facility in New Zealand to achieve Qualmark's prestigious Enviro-Gold Award, which recognises the countryâs highest standards in environmental practice.

The Rotorua District Council-owned facility has earned top honour in New Zealand tourismâs official environmental awards by demonstrating highly effective energy efficiency, waste management and water conservation. Community activities and conservation initiatives are also considered under Qualmark's environmental grading criteria.

All businesses carrying the Qualmark logo must meet minimum standards for environmental practice, with the Enviro awards recognising the top performers.

Louis Sylvester, Rotorua District Council's Aquatic and Leisure Manager, says the achievement is a result of dedicated Aquatic Centre staff constantly thinking of ways to support and implement sustainability.

Sylvester stated "achieving gold status is a significant stepping stone in the way we address the ecological impact of our business so we can minimise our environmental footprint.

"By also engaging well with our community, we can further develop ways to increase the effectiveness of our environmental business practices.

"We're heavily committed to contributing towards a healthy environment for our residents."

Council Chief Executive Peter Guerin believes that the receipt of the Enviro-Gold award as "fantastic" saying that it had clearly involved a big effort, a lot of coordination and excellent input from the whole aquatic centre team.

Over 470 New Zealand businesses have achieved Enviro Award status - recognising their commitment to Qualmarkâs responsible tourism criteria and environmental practices, with Rotorua Aquatic Centre being the countryâs first to pick up an Enviro-Gold award.