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3 What is a Waste Management and Minimisation Plan?

3.1 What is a WMMP and why do we need one?

A waste management and minimisation plan (WMMP) is the term legally prescribed by the Waste Minimisation Act (WMA) for a territorial authority's (TA’s) waste management and minimisation planning document. Under previous legislation, the term was ‘waste management plan’. All territorial local authorities in New Zealand currently have some form of waste management plan.

TAs are enabled through legislation to use various tools to influence, promote and implement measures to reduce and minimise waste. The WMMP is intended to be the guiding document for TAs in directing their efforts towards achieving effective and efficient waste management and minimisation within their districts.

Having a WMMP will provide each district with a blueprint for achieving their waste management and minimisation aims in a structured way. The process for developing a WMMP should be inclusive, in terms of securing partnership and community support for the waste management and minimisation methods selected. This will help smooth transitions during the design, procurement and implementation of any major new services or programmes,

Councils are required by the WMA to review their existing waste management plan and develop and adopt a WMMP by 2012. While nearly all TAs have an existing waste management plan developed under Part 31 of the Local Government Act (LGA) 1974, each of these need to be thoroughly reviewed by 2012. For an overview of the anticipated timeframe for conducting the initial review, see table 4.1, page 22.

3.2 What should a WMMP include?

A WMMP should contain a summary of the council’s objectives, policies and targets with respect to waste management and minimisation. It should also clearly communicate how the council will deliver on these objectives through its activities.

The WMA (s 43) states that:

A WMMP must provide for the following:

  1. objectives and policies for achieving effective and efficient waste management and minimisation within the territorial authority’s district:
  2. methods for achieving effective and efficient waste management and minimisation within the territorial authority’s district, including –
    1. collection, recovery, recycling, treatment, and disposal services for the district to meet its current and future waste management and minimisation needs (whether provided by the territorial authority or otherwise); and
    2. any waste management and minimisation facilities provided, or to be provided, by the territorial authority; and
    3. any waste management and minimisation activities, including any educational or public awareness activities, provided, or to be provided, by the territorial authority:
  3. how implementing the plan is to be funded:
  4. if the territorial authority wishes to make grants or advances of money in accordance with section 47, the framework for doing so.

The WMA does not prescribe specific waste management and minimisation targets, or the structure or content of WMMPs, thus allowing significant local flexibility in the approach taken. This also means that individual WMMPs may differ widely in terms of quality. However, there is the scope within the WMA for the Minister to set performance standards for the implementation of WMMPs. At the time of writing there have been no performance standards set, but any such standards in the future will need to be considered in the planning process because they may have a direct impact on a council’s targets, strategy and activities.

In this context it is worth reiterating a few points. This guidance aims to promote consistency in the approach to the WMMP process. It is also intended to help those involved in WMMP development by increasing understanding of the intent behind the legislation and how this might flow through into WMMPs. Although there is no single correct way to draft a WMMP, this guidance presents an approach to the planning process. The sample WMMP outline (see Appendix 1) may assist councils in plan preparation. The sample WMMP has considered the Government’s policy and legislative requirements as well as the recommendations of the Office of the Auditor General.

3.3 What should you consider when preparing a WMMP?

There is a distinction in the WMA between what needs to be provided for in a WMMP and what needs to be considered in the preparation and development of a WMMP. You may wish to obtain legal advice on how these terms apply to your WMMP.

The WMA (s 44) sets out specific requirements when preparing, amending or revoking WMMPs that are important considerations in the development of your plan:

In preparing, amending, or revoking a waste management and minimisation plan, a territorial authority must −

  1. consider the following methods of waste management and minimisation (which are listed in descending order of importance)
    1. reduction
    2. reuse
    3. recycling
    4. recovery
    5. treatment
    6. disposal; and
  2. ensure that the collection, transport, and disposal of waste does not, or is not likely to, cause a nuisance; and
  3. have regard to the New Zealand Waste Strategy, or any government policy on waste management and minimisation that replaces the strategy; and
  4. have regard to the most recent assessment undertaken by the territorial authority under section 51; and
  5. use the special consultative procedure set out in section 83 of the Local Government Act 2002 and, in doing so, the most recent assessment undertaken by the territorial authority under section 51 must be notified with the statement of proposal.

This clause demonstrates an emphasis on the waste hierarchy and the New Zealand Waste Strategy (NZWS), as well as on waste assessment. However, the WMA does not prescribe exactly how regard is to be given to these concepts. This guidance aims to provide you with a better understanding of the intent of these clauses and how they may be considered during the planning process. These clauses will be discussed further in the context of the planning process outlined in chapter 4.

3.4 A waste assessment and their role in the WMMP process

The waste assessment, as prescribed in the WMA (s 51), plays a key role in determining the content of a WMMP, and councils are required to conduct a waste assessment before reviewing their WMMP (WMA s 50) and to have regard to it in the preparation of the document (WMA s 44). The WMA does not require that the waste assessment be specifically consulted on individually, but we recommend you review and ‘adopt’ the waste assessment before drafting the WMMP, as s 44 requires that the waste assessment be notified with the statement of proposal for the WMMP.

The purpose of the waste assessment is to provide the necessary background information on the waste and diverted materials streams that will enable a council to determine a logical set of priorities and inform its activities. The waste assessment incorporates the situation and options review steps in assessing waste information and selecting the specific methods for addressing the various waste and diverted material streams, as well as future demand for services, programmes and infrastructure.

The WMA (s 51) states:

  1. A waste assessment must contain –
    1. description of the collection, recycling, recovery, treatment, and disposal services provided within the territorial authority’s district (whether by the territorial authority or otherwise); and
    2. a forecast of future demands for collection, recycling, recovery, treatment, and disposal services within the district; and
    3. a statement of options available to meet the forecast demands of the district with an assessment of the suitability of each option; and
    4. a statement of the territorial authority’s intended role in meeting the forecast demands; and
    5. a statement of the territorial authority’s proposals for meeting the forecast demands, including proposals for new or replacement infrastructure; and
    6. a statement about the extent to which the proposals will –
      1. ensure that public health is adequately protected:
      2. promote effective and efficient waste management and minimisation.
  2. An assessment is not required to contain any assessment in relation to individual properties.
  3. Information is required for an assessment to the extent that the territorial authority considers appropriate, having regard to –
    1. the significance of the information; and
    2. the costs of, and difficulty in, obtaining the information; and
    3. the extent of the territorial authority’s resources; and
    4. the possibility that the territorial authority may be directed under the Health Act 1956 to provide the services referred to in that Act.
  4. However, an assessment must indicate whether and, if so, to what extent, the matters referred to in subsection (3)(b) and (c) have impacted materially on the completeness of the assessment.
  5. In making an assessment, the territorial authority must –
    1. use its best endeavours to make a full and balanced assessment; and
    2. consult the Medical Officer of Health.

Many of these provisions were contained in the solid waste provisions of the LGA 1974 that were repealed by the WMA. The waste assessment provisions go further by expanding the assessment to all waste and waste minimisation activities within the district − not just waste for disposal or those materials under a council’s direct control, as was previously required.

There are various ways to interpret the requirements of the waste assessment section. This guidance suggests that significant flexibility is allowed in terms of the information gathered for the assessment. This flexibility acknowledges the differences in ease of obtaining information from district to district. While, again, there is clearly no single correct method in terms of how a waste assessment should be carried out, this section is considered further in chapter 4 as it relates directly to the WMMP process.

3.5 Where does the WMMP fit?

The following diagram (figure 3.1) depicts some of the key national, regional and local circumstances, policies and plans that influence the development of a WMMP. It also shows how the WMMP fits with a community’s long term council community plan (LTCCP), in that the WMMP will be influenced by desired community outcomes (as contained in an existing LTCCP). Ultimately the WMMP will be adopted and then incorporated into the LTCCP for implementation.

Not only does the WMMP influence the content of the LTCCP, but any changes to waste activity resulting from a significant change in the LTCCP may result in a requirement to amend the council’s WMMP, and vice versa. Figure 3.1 is intended to give a general overview of these relationships and influences, but further details of the planning process itself and the interface between the WMA (and the LGA) and LTCCP processes are given in chapter 4.

Figure 3.1: Influences on the development of a WMMP

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Figure 3.1: Influences on the development of a WMMP

 

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