Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2021-27

The current Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP), 2021 to 2027, was adopted by Council on 13 May 2021.

Foreword

Waste affects all of us. Every business, every household, every community, is impacted by how we deal with waste. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that we look after this place we call home, Marlborough, and that starts with how we deal with the stuff we no longer have a use for. Some districts have taken a ‘hands off’ approach and left it to the market or individuals to provide solutions. There is no doubt that as a society we are resourceful, ingenious and sometimes quite entrepreneurial in how we deal with waste but not always. Responsibility for waste is passed around like a hot potato but that’s about to change.

The waste management and minimisation plan 2021-27 sets out three simple, yet crucial goals, as the basis for how we deal with waste as a region over the next six years and beyond. The plan advocates for change on the following basis:

• To enable participation in all matters waste related across the district.
• To ensure inclusivity is embedded in decision-making for waste related matters.
• To maximise opportunity to support best waste practice for Marlborough.

We want our community to participate in how we plan to manage our waste so we asked you in advance to tell us your stories. What is happening with waste in your part of the region, what issues it causes, and what responses you would like to see, has formed the basis of this plan. As we move forward as a community to implement some of the solutions we want your participation to continue.

The plan proposes solutions based on inclusivity for the whole region. Where you live should not be a limiting factor in how you are able to deal with waste. Likewise, how other areas deal with waste does not always transpose into a Marlborough setting. So, we are rethinking what services we should provide across the region and how inclusive we can make them.

Waste is also an opportunity for our community. Be it employment, supply of materials, arts and crafts, innovation, waste can provide a stimulus to do things differently. Council is primarily focused on how waste impacts on public health, the wider environment and overall resource efficiency. We contract our services through tender and response from commercial entities but we want to change that as well. The plan therefore creates opportunities for both social and commercial procurement.

Change is never easy but it starts with recognising that it is required. We all love familiarity and benefit from routine and structure, but the world would be pretty dull if we never changed. Let’s get behind this waste plan and make Marlborough a place that respects the environment and those that walk amongst it.

Council is determined to continue to reduce our reliance on landfill as the method of dealing with our waste and it gives me great pleasure to endorse this waste management and minimisation plan as the next stage on that journey.

JOHN LEGGETT
MAYOR

Goals, Objectives and Targets

The waste assessment carried out in October 2020 identified twenty two options for consideration. For the period 2021 to 2027 the Council’s goals and objectives are:

• To enable participation in all matters waste related across the district.
• To ensure inclusivity is embedded in decision-making for waste related matters.
• To maximise opportunity to support best waste practice for Marlborough.

This aligns the Council to the New Zealand Waste Strategy which has two goals:

• Reduce the harmful effect of waste.
• Improving the efficiency of resource use.

For the period 2021 to 2027 the Council’s targets in relation to the above are:

1) Investigate beneficial use of landfill gas by December 2021.

July 2023 Update – the investigate beneficial use of landfill gas by December 2021 target has been achieved. A report was provided by Tonkin and Taylor during 2021 that set out a number of possible uses for the landfill gas. The uses included introducing a secondary flare to improve gas capture at the landfill, supplying the gas to the hospital as a fuel or using the gas at the landfill for energy generation. Work was undertaken with the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board that concluded that the gas supply to the hospital was not an option that they wished to pursue. Council then ran a procurement process seeking market responses for the beneficial use of landfill gas. The procurement process concluded with a contract award to LMS Energy Limited who has an expertise in operating Biogas plants fuelled from landfill gas. LMS are now monitoring the Bluegums Landfill gas collection system and will report back in the first half of 2024 on the Biogas plant potential.

2) Investigate a regional solution for organic material including green, animal and food wastes by December 2022.

July 2023 Update – the investigate a regional solution for organic material including green, animal and food wastes by December 2022 target has not been progressed at this time. The Government released a new waste strategy in March 2023. The new waste strategy includes a focus on reducing the organic loading sent to landfill. In the Marlborough context the majority of organic material is derived from primary industry. Organic processing solutions are currently being trialled by the commercial sector with a report due back by the first quarter of 2024. Once the outcome of these trials is known Council will be able to determine its next steps in diverting organic loading from landfill. The target will therefore be extended to December 2024.

3) Re-tender the waste management and minimisation services and award contracts by November 2023.

July 2023 Update – the retender the waste management and minimisation services and award contracts by November 2023 target has been achieved. The timeline has changed to provide alignment with Council annual approval processes whilst retaining a minimum 12-month lead in time for the relevant contractors. The procurement process concluded with a Contract award to Waste Management (NZ) Limited. The revised Contract start date is 1 July 2024.

4) Implement, monitor and review the contracts awarded across the period 2024 to 2027.

July 2023 Update – the implement, monitor and review the contracts awarded across the period 2024 to 2027 target is pending. Suitable contract performance measurement criteria are being developed in conjunction with the Contractor. This work will be completed by the Contract start date of 1 July 2024.

The current waste bylaw (2017) can be downloaded here.