Rubbish and recycling plan up for review
Published on 27 August 2020
A group from Whanganui District Council headed over to Hawke’s Bay last week to see first-hand how another district approaches waste management and minimisation. The Council’s Waste Advisor, Stuart Hylton, says what they saw will be taken into consideration during this year’s review of the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan.
The trip included a visit to Hawk Group, which takes paper and cardboard (referred to as fibre) and recycles it into moulded cardboard fruit trays.
“The Hawk Group visit was particularly interesting for us,” Stuart Hylton says, “since we’re actively looking for a new fibre market for the Resource Recovery Centre’s paper and cardboard.”
Hawk Group will soon be doubling the volume of fibre it accepts after receiving Provincial Growth Fund support to scale up its operation.
Stuart Hylton says, “As well as looking for solutions for fibre we’re embarking on a comprehensive review of our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, evaluating the current plan and looking at the overall picture of how services are working for our community and the environment.”
It will include a review of the Council’s rural rubbish bag and bin collection services.
Two workshops will be held with elected members to discuss options and the draft plan will go out for community consultation towards the end of the year.
“As we review the plan we will be looking at how we can drive effective waste minimisation behaviour in our district while ensuring our community has the most convenient and cost-effective methods of disposing of waste.
“It’s important we strike the right balance, taking into account national directions in waste minimisation, market forces and our community’s preferences.”
An important question to examine is whether the Council should get involved in kerbside collection services, either solely for rubbish or for recycling as well. Community preferences from the 2018 Household Waste Survey will feed into this.
Stuart Hylton says one of the upsides of improved rubbish collection services would be the opportunity to reduce illegal dumping in the Whanganui district.
Councillor Rob Vinsen, Chair of the Waste Minimisation Advisory Group, says another crucial question is how we can work in conjunction with central government’s recently announced Product Stewardship Scheme to minimise waste locally for the most environmentally damaging products.
“This includes products such as tyres, e-waste, hazardous substances, agrichemicals, batteries and lightbulbs,” Cr Vinsen says.
The review will also look for solutions for dealing with large waste streams, such as organics and demolition and construction waste.
“Right now construction and demolition waste accounts for an estimated 40 percent of waste to landfill in New Zealand,” Cr Vinsen says, “so reducing this waste stream would be hugely beneficial.”
He says with changes in waste minimisation locally and nationally the time is right for the Council to review its waste minimisation plan so we have a broad and cohesive framework for waste minimisation in our district.
“We’re looking forward to getting community input on this towards the end of the year,” Cr Vinsen says.