Solid Waste Bylaw open for feedback
Published on 20 February 2024
Whanganui District Council is seeking feedback on its proposal to introduce a Solid Waste Bylaw after elected representatives gave the consultation the green light at a Strategy and Policy Committee meeting on Thursday, 15 February.
The council’s waste advisor, Stuart Hylton, says many councils use a solid waste bylaw to regulate waste in their districts.
“People working in the waste sector will be interested in giving feedback on this proposed bylaw and it’s relevant to those running large-scale events as well.
“Currently the council offers guidance on implementing a waste management plan for events but it’s voluntary. With the proposed bylaw, organisers of large-scale events would be required to put a waste management plan in place and report back to the council on it.
“It’s important to note that this would only apply to large-scale events such as the Extravaganza Fair, Masters’ Games and Fest of Cultural Unity.”
The council would still be available to support any smaller events that would like to implement a waste management plan.
Stuart Hylton says the proposed Solid Waste Bylaw would be a useful tool for waste planning in our district because it would allow us to collect data on rubbish collected.
“Under the Solid Waste Bylaw, waste collectors would need to be licensed and report to the council with information on rubbish collected. Of course data wouldn’t be specific to individual users and would be used just to get an understanding of waste across the district.”
The bylaw would require any waste disposal facilities that opened in Whanganui in the future to be licensed.
Stuart Hylton says work is well underway to bring in a rates-funded kerbside recycling collection from July this year and the bylaw would support this as well as general waste planning.
“Ultimately the solid waste bylaw would formalise waste management in our district to make sure we’re looking after the environment as best we can.”
Consultation on the proposed Solid Waste Bylaw is open until midnight on Wednesday, 20 March 2024. For more information, including how to make a submission, please click here.