Waste MinimisationWhakahekenga para

Our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan

The new joint Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) for 2018 – 2024 (12MB) was adopted by the Napier City Council on 18 September, following on from Hastings District Council’s adoption on 30 August. Councils are required to review their plans every six years by the Waste Minimisation Act (WMA) 2008.

Our latest WMMP aims to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and get people thinking about waste minimisation. We hope it'll lead to increased household recycling, as well significantly reduce the amount of waste going into the Omarunui landfill. This would not only increase its lifespan, but improve our environmental footprint.

Among the initiatives, plastic rubbish bags will be replaced by small 80-litre general rubbish wheelie bins provided to every home in our collection areas.

Initially, rubbish will continue to be collected weekly, though as people become more skilled at waste minimisation, it's possible we might move to fortnightly collections. To promote increased recycling, the plan includes providing recycling containers to ensure plastics, paper and glass were kept as clean as possible to enable them to be recycled.

The overall vision of the joint WMMP is to work towards zero waste. This includes increasing the amount of recyclables diverted from landfill by 20 per cent and decreasing the amount of organic matter going to landfill by 30 per cent.

The Problem

In 2016/17 the Omarunui Landfill, jointly owned by Hastings District and Napier City Councils, received 84,000 tonnes of waste, 49.1 per cent of which was commonly recyclable and/or compostable material. Of the rest, a significant amount was potentially divertable, such as electronic waste, wood waste, plaster board and scrap metal.

We did a waste audit on a sample of our household rubbish in 2016. Sixty per cent of the rubbish inside Napier rubbish bags currently going to landfill doesn't have to.

Why waste matters

New Zealand's waste problem is an issue that isn't going to go away. Every year almost one tonne of solid waste for every New Zealander ends up being buried at our landfills. Below is a list showing how long it takes for the following common items to break down.

As you can see from this table it takes a very long time for many of our everyday resources to break down in the landfill. After the waste is buried some of it will start to break down causing potential pollution problems such as leachate and methane gas. Leachate is a liquid made up of rainwater and rotting material, which is harmful to the environment if not properly contained and treated.

Methane gas is harmful to the Ozone layer and comes from the breakdown of organic materials. About 6% of New Zealand's Methane emissions come from landfills.

5R's Waste Management Hierarchy

In order to prevent valuable materials being buried in Omarunui Landfill it is important that we implement the 5R's waste management hierarchy to ensure that we take the smallest amount possible to the landfill. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to lessen the quantity of waste you throw away.

Reduce

Napier Waste Minimisation Officer's activities are to promote cleaner production, waste reduction in the community. Take your own bags to the supermarket, this saves collecting bags that you don't really want, buy products with less packaging or recyclable packaging.

Reuse

Reusable shopping bags are readily available and proven to be cost effective while also protecting the environment, second-hand dealers and charity groups will often take useful items.

Recycling

Napier and Hastings residents receive a weekly recycling service with a maximum volume of 3 x 45 litre council supplied crates (check our database to find out your collection days). 

If you have excess recycling and don't wish to store it until the next week’s service, you can drop it off to a local recycling facility:

• Redclyffe Refuse Transfer Station (193 Springfield Rd, Napier)
• Henderson Rd Transfer Station (121 Henderson Rd, Hastings)

Recovery

Commercial scale composting by Napier City Council, or use of a building recycler who may recover materials from buildings.

Residual Management

The final, environmentally acceptable disposal of wastes occurs at Omarunui Landfill, which is a sanitary landfill designed to the highest engineering specifications.