Summary

A Waste Management Plan defines how the community will deal with its waste. This plan is the result of Council reviewing its initial Waste Management Plan prepared in 2000. That plan no longer meets the statutory requirements of a Waste Management Plan.

Council is required by the Local Government Act 2002 to have a Waste Management Plan.

Background

This Waste Management Plan has been developed by Council to address how the Wairoa District will deal with its solid waste now and into the future.

This plan is based upon a Draft that has been subject to change based on community input and a Hearing of submissions based upon the Special Consultative Procedure as prescribed in Section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002.

In simple terms a Waste Management Plan defines how the community will deal with its waste. Under the Local Government Act 2002 and the National Waste Management Strategy, a Waste Management Plan must incorporate the hierarchy of:

• Reduction
• Reuse
• Recycling
• Recovery and
• Residual Disposal.

This hierarchy is commonly referred to as the 5R’s.

The Waste Management Plan will take into account all waste generated within the community. However Council’s focus is on providing options for the disposal of domestic waste as its first priority.

Council is required to have a Waste Management Plan. Beyond that, having a Waste Management Plan gives the community assurance that Council is managing solid waste effectively in accordance with the Waste Hierarchy and its development also provides the Community with an opportunity to advise Council what they want to achieve as a result of waste management activities.

General Waste Management Plan Goals

Council has set the following goals for “Solid Waste Management: Zero Waste to Landfill by 2010”. To achieve these goals significant changes must be made as to how the Wairoa District views and manages its waste. In particular the waste hierarchy must be incorporated into decision-making to ensure waste is seen as a resource. The goals are:

• Reduce cost to ratepayers by continually seeking improvement to Waste Management, through efficiencies in operations, alignment with appropriate commercial operators and implementation of user pays for waste producers.
• Provide a minimum level of service to all ratepayers that is equitable and affordable and of a high quality.
• Provide additional services where the community requests them and is willing to pay for them.
• Eliminate illegal dumping of refuse throughout the District to enhance the environment.

In order to meet these goals Council has developed a set of objectives for each key aspect of the Waste Hierarchy, and a series of associated actions aimed at achieving those objectives.

The actions proposed in this plan will be implemented subject to affordability and assessment of options at the time. It is possible that different communities will require different solutions and where this is practicable and affordable Councils response will take those expectations into account.

To find out more about the Wairoa District Council Waste Management Plan 2005 you can contact Wairoa District Council on (06) 838 7309, or email Neil Cook.

Documents

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Wairoa District Council Waste Management Plan 2005