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Key challenges and issues

Why are some areas in New Zealand adopting a regional approach to waste management?

We all know that waste crosses boundaries so why not work across these boundaries with other councils? The New Zealand Waste Strategy promotes a regional approach to waste management planning. There has been some uptake of this message with several regional authorities developing a regional waste strategy or plan in collaboration with their city and districts.

Regional Approaches have a number of benefits to waste management planning. They:

  • focus on strategic issues such as regional landfills or cross boundary movement of waste
  • allow district and city councils to concentrate on the operational and implementation of waste management
  • can launch initiatives that an individual local authority could not fund (such as high profile education campaigns)
  • avoid duplicating efforts and resources across districts and the region
  • create opportunities for joint tendering and shared sites
  • create more influence in district plan and resource management planning
  • allow resources to be committed at a regional level.

Reporting on a regional basis provides the ability to benchmark performance and allows a better opportunity for commercial confidentiality.

Examples

Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty and Environment Bay of Plenty

Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Environment Bay of Plenty decided that a joint approach to waste management policy was desirable to effectively manage waste in the western sub-region of the Bay of Plenty. This allowed each district to then develop separate implementation plans. You can view the Waste Management Plan (PDF 293KB) on the Tauranga City Council website.

For more information contact the Tauranga City Council.

Environment Waikato

Environment Waikato has adopted a Regional Waste Management Strategy. For more information contact Robert Brodnax at Environment Waikato.

Taranaki Regional Council

Taranaki's Waste Management Forum is implementing a Regional Waste Strategy. Using this strategy, the region's local authorities will together achieve efficiencies and meet mutually agreed targets that deliver waste management policy in Taranaki.

The Regional Waste Management Forum comprises representatives of all the local authorities in Taranaki:

  • Taranaki Regional Council
  • New Plymouth District Council
  • South Taranaki District Council
  • Stratford District Council.

The local authorities took a collaborative approach to preparing the strategy and its adoption by the regional council and the three district councils. This was the key to the successful implementation of the Regional Waste Strategy.

The Regional Waste Strategy considers the goals and objectives of the New Zealand Waste Strategy, along with local community aspirations and technical constraints. The strategy is based on three priority waste areas of the New Zealand Waste Strategy, and for each waste area comments on the national perspective and the Taranaki context, and assesses Taranaki's progress toward each of the New Zealand Waste Strategy targets.

The Regional Waste Strategy includes 'Taranaki targets' that regionalise the national targets making them more appropriate for Taranaki and providing more specific waste minimisation and management targets. Almost all Regional Waste Strategy targets surpass the national targets, and specific additional targets have been included for some waste areas.

In addition to providing goals and objectives for a region-wide waste minimisation and management policy and activities, the Strategy is now about to be used as a tool for the preparation of district waste management plans. It is envisaged that the existing waste management plans will be revised to be consistent with the Regional Waste Strategy (and therefore the New Zealand Waste Strategy) and each other, with only minimal additional work now required by each district to define their particular contribution to and participation in the Strategy.

For more information contact the Taranaki Regional Council.

Regionally based reporting

A benefit of a regional waste management approach is that monitoring and reporting of the waste management process is undertaken regionally. Reporting on a regional basis provides the ability to benchmark performance and gives access to information that would otherwise be withheld due to commercial sensitivity concerns. It would be difficult to attribute sensitive information to any one commercial player as there would be many involved across one region, as opposed to one or two per district or city.

Example:

Waste Exchange

The 'Waste Exchange' in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty is funded largely on a regional base with contributions from territorial authorities. For more information, see Environment Waikato's waste strategy.

 

Last updated: 12 October 2010