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Waste Minimisation - a new environment for everyone with a role in waste

One of the last business items completed before Parliament dissolved was the passing of the new Waste Minimisation Act. 

 

The legislation review has been a slow but thorough process providing the opportunity for New Zealanders to consider our goals and methods for managing waste.

 

The focus on waste minimisation rather than waste management is welcomed by local government, as is the acknowledgement that waste management is not just a role for councils, but that there are critical roles for producers and consumers too.

 

The legislative process is complete but there is still significant work to do to put the new approach into action.  Councils will be reviewing waste management plans with their communities, including reviewing services, programmes, funding and charging.  Councils will also have a particular interest in the development of regulations for priority products for product stewardship schemes and criteria for the contestable waste levy fund.  A core part of Local Government New Zealand's role to date has been to consider and respond to implementation issues for councils arising from the new regulatory environment.  Our role will continue as the next phase of the legislation roll out commences. 

 

The place of recycling in the new legislation remains unclear after disappointing late changes to the Bill in how it defines "waste".  We hope this will not hinder good waste minimisation initiatives being run by councils in local areas but fear this may be the case.  It is likely to have particular implications for the way councils regulate and collect information.  In my experience keeping track of information about waste is a critical part of planning and service delivery.  If councils cannot carry out this task, there are real expectations that central government must pick up the task. 

 

Local Government New Zealand  is a signatory to the Packaging Accord which celebrated its successes at the launch of the year 4 progress report on 14 October 2008.  I was impressed to hear that the recovery (recycling) targets set in the Accord have already been met or exceeded by all packaging sectors and the proportion of recovery for paper and some other packaging is high by international comparisons.  Information about the Accord and the achievements at year 4 can be viewed on the Packaging Accord website http://www.packagingaccord.org.nz/.

 

The principle of product stewardship is about far more than recycling.  It is about all parts of the product lifecycle and the appropriate sharing of responsibilities through that lifecycle.  How product stewardship schemes develop under the new Act will be watched with interest.  Where the Packaging Accord fits in the new regulatory environment is a topic that local government will need to fully consider in this 5^th and final year of the Accord.  If you have council views on this, please do pass these on to Local Government New Zealand.

 

Adrienne Staples

National Council portfolio spokesperson on Waste Minimisation

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