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Waste data in New Zealand
The Ministry for the Environment is working with local government and industry to gain a better understanding of waste minimisation and management in New Zealand. Key aspects of this work are:
- Develop tools for collecting waste data
- Collect data on specific issues such as the 2002 Landfill Review and Audit
- Establish a baseline for waste composition in New Zealand through the SWAP Baseline Programme.
- Measure and collect packaging information as part of the New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004
- Make the reporting of waste data a simple process for local authorities
Progress to date
There have been a number of initiatives aimed at improving the collection and aggregating of waste data over the last 10 years. These include:
- Establishment of a core set of environmental indicators
- The Waste Analysis Protocol (1992)
- The National Waste Data Report (1997)
- Environment New Zealand 2007
- The State of New Zealand’s Environment 1997
- The 1995 National Landfill Census
- The 1998/99 National Landfill Census Report
- Waste Indicators data
- The Solid Waste Analysis Protocol (2002)
- The 2002 Landfill Review and Audit (2003)
- SWAP Baseline results (Excel 244 KB)
- Waste Pilot preliminary results (Excel 163 KB)
- The 2006/07 National Landfill Census
While these reports and the underlying policies have resulted in improvements in data collection and/or provided a snapshot of waste disposal or composition in time, they have not succeeded in producing an integrated and ongoing system for generating and collating waste data.
Why is waste information important?
When collecting data of any type it is important to keep in mind the intended use of the information being collected. Some of the uses for waste data are to:
- identify options for diversion from landfill
- plan for waste management
- develop appropriate and practical policy at a local and national level
- evaluate the potential risks of waste disposal
- measure progress that has been made in waste minimisation
- track progress on the New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004.
