For full information, read the Statement of Proposal, Draft WMMP and the West Coast Regional Waste Assessment.
A WWMP sets out the the current situation regarding waste minimisation and management in the district and how the Councils will progress efficient and effective waste management and minimisation.
Why do Councils develop a WMMP?
All Councils are required under the Waste Minimisation Act (WMA) 2008 develop an WMMP.
This process is documented in a Waste Assessment and future direction and actions are set out in a the WMMP.
The last Waste Assessment for the West Coast region (covering all three districts) was carried out in 2018, and the Buller, Grey, and Westland Districts adopted the final WMMP in 2018.
Under sections 43 and 44 of the Waste Minimisation Act (WMA) 2008, the Waste Assessments and WMMPs must be reviewed and adopted every six years.
What are the requirements for Territorial Authorities?
A WMMP must summarise Council’s waste management and minimisation objectives, policies, method and funding to achieve effective and efficient waste management and minimisation within the district. The WMMP must also have regard to the New Zealand Waste Strategy and the most recent Waste Assessment undertaken by the three district councils in the region.
The West Coast Regional Waste Assessment describes the waste situation, sets out the region's vision, goals, objectives, and targets, and develops options for meeting future demand.
The draft West Coast Regional Waste Minimisation and Management Plan (WMMP) summarises the information presented in the Waste Assessment and adds an action plan.
The Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) outlines what Te rautaki para, the National Waste Strategy, means for the West Coast and proposes the region’s approach to delivering waste management and minimisation services. The Plan has been designed to meet each Councils’ obligations to evaluate and plan for waste minimisation and management in their district under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (WMA).
The Plan covers the whole West Coast and reflects a regional approach to minimising waste through regional collaboration. All solid waste, whether landfilled or diverted material, is considered in this Plan. Diverted material includes items being reused, recycled, or composted.
Liquid and gas wastes, which are managed through other policies, are not in the scope of this Plan.
Te rautaki para | Waste Strategy (2023)
Te rautaki para | Waste Strategy is the core policy document setting the future direction of waste management and minimisation in Aotearoa New Zealand. The strategy's vision is to commit Aotearoa New Zealand to a low-emissions, low-waste, circular economy by 2050 with a set of guiding principles.
Kerbside standardisation (2023)
As part of the work plan/priorities laid out in Te rautaki para | Waste Strategy, kerbside standardisation aims to ensure consistent waste and recycling services, and kerbside organics collection in urban centres, are offered across all districts in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
Waste Levy expansion
For every tonne of waste disposed of in landfills, a levy is applied and collected by the Ministry for the Environment. By 2027 this levy will increase to $75 per tonne of waste. Half of this levy is returned to territorial authorities to promote or achieve the waste minimisation activities set out in their WMMPs. The WMMP includes approaches to increase reuse and recovery of materials and reduce the burden of this levy on ratepayers.
Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) (2022)
In May 2022, the national Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) was released. The ERP sets the planned targets and objectives for climate action over the next 15 years. The government is placing new requirements on councils to reduce their waste emissions, focusing on emissions from organic materials and landfill gas. A significant opportunity for local government to reduce emissions is to offer a food scraps collection service by 2030 in line with the kerbside standardisation programme of work. This is reflected in the proposed actions in the WMMP.
The Waste Assessment has identified a range of challenges and opportunities related to waste management and minimisation to be addressed through the WMMP. These include:
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Challenge |
Opportunity |
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The West Coast councils are increasingly challenged by the affordability of meeting the future national targets, partly due to their low population density. |
Explore options to collaborate with Iwi, community groups, industry and neighbouring regions. |
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Inconsistent waste data available across the region (e.g. contamination in kerbside recycling, illegal dumping incidents, reuse of materials). |
Streamlining data collection across all Council services. Leveraging national policy change, such as alignment with national standardisation of what is collected for recycling. |
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High quantities of waste are being sent to landfill from the region. |
There is considerable opportunity to increase the capture of materials (specifically paper, plastic, metals, and organic materials) for diversion. Streamlining kerbside collections with all Councils offering the same service and planning for new services as required, in line with the national kerbside standardisation. |
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Inconsistent information regarding the available waste services, education, and system performance is available across the three districts. |
To increase buy-in, ratepayers and members of the public should be provided with information regarding waste diversion, infrastructure, and current performance online and through other methods. Education and behavioural change are important to reduce material generation, enhance the use of existing infrastructure, improve material capture for recycling and recovery, and address contamination in recycling and illegal dumping. |
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Engagement with high waste-generating industries. |
Focus on sectors likely to generate more waste in the future, including: – Agricultural waste – ensuring farmers make informed decisions on waste management and appropriate services for their sector. – Mining waste – considering the increases in waste volumes and types from the industry.
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Reporting emissions associated with waste services and management is not currently being done. As part of the National Strategy, tracking of this data will need to start. |
Establish a process and start to collect baseline data to inform decision-making. |
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Waste from tourism is expected to increase. |
Work to support the procurement of goods and consumables from tourism providers and careful planning around communication and infrastructure available to tourists to encourage waste diversion is essential to successful recovery in the region, particularly in Westland. |
In all areas, the focus is on enabling the West Coast community to reduce the waste generated through managing their waste according to the waste hierarchy, preferring reducing, rethinking and redesigning before reuse, repair and repurposing before ‘conventional’ waste management options are introduced (recycle, compost, recover, dispose).
All district councils have a role in delivering the actions in the WMMP. These range from advocating to central government and promoting services to enabling community and industry groups to collaborate for better outcomes for the West Coast.
The Action Plan includes actions focusing on waste minimisation and management infrastructure, education of the West Coast community, and establishing the right policy framework:
Read about the actions on pp 5-6 of the Statement of Proposal and in more detail on pp 25 – 34 of the WMMP.
The WMMP proposed a series of waste minimisation and management targets, reflecting national targets where relevant. These relate to:
Read about the targets on p 4 of the Statement of Proposal and in more detail on pp 19 – 21 of the WMMP.
How will Council evaluate their progress?
The councils will monitor and report against the targets to determine the effectiveness of the action plan. It is expected that the councils will track progress against the targets annually to review performance.
The Councils will conduct a full review of the Plan at intervals of not more than six years after adopting the Plan or the last review. Any review of the Plan will be preceded by a Waste Assessment under section 51 of the Act.
Find out more on pp 35 – 37 of the WMMP.
The funding of the implementation of this WMMP will come from a range of sources including targeted rates, general rates, waste levy, external revenue streams, and other funding. Many funding sources have restrictions in what they can be utilised for.
Read about the funding options on pp 22 – 23 of the WMMP.