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Waste management and minimisation planning

What is waste management and minimisation planning?

The Ministry sees territorial authorities as key players in managing and minimising waste in New Zealand. With the enactment of the Waste Minimisation Act 2008 (the Act), territorial authority roles and responsibilities for promoting effective and efficient waste management and minimisation within their districts have become more clearly defined.

Under the Act, territorial authorities are required to have waste management and minimisation plans (WMMPs). Existing waste management plans prepared under the Local Government Act 2002 are deemed WMMPs under the Waste Minimisation Act but must be reviewed before 1 July 2012. These plans must have regard to the New Zealand Waste Strategy, which is currently being revised following a public consultation process.

The Ministry for the Environment is working with territorial authorities to help them understand their new obligations. The ‘Waste Management and Minimisation Planning: Guidance for Territorial Authorities’   was prepared in cooperation with Local Government New Zealand and a working group comprised of territorial authority representatives and other experts in waste management and minimisation planning.

Before reviewing their WMMPs, territorial authorities must undertake a waste assessment.  The assessment will provide the necessary background information for a territorial authority to work out a logical set of priorities and inform its activities. A waste assessment checklist has been produced at the request of territorial authorities to help them complete a waste assessment as required by the Waste Minimisation Act.

Past waste management planning by territorial authorities

For more information on past WMMPs, we have included the following excerpt from the Office of the Auditor General (OAG’s) website on the follow up report on performance audits from 2007:

“At the time of our performance audit, the Local Government Act 1974 required all territorial authorities to adopt a Waste Management Plan to provide for waste management in their district. The Act directed territorial authorities, when preparing their plans, to consider the following waste management methods, in order of priority: reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery, treatment, and disposal.

We encourage territorial authorities, when updating their plans to meet the new Waste Minimisation Act’s requirements, to take account of the findings in our report.”

For more information see:

Last updated: 15 March 2010