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Institutions and legislation
Ensure a sound institutional and legislative base for implementing the New Zealand Waste Strategy
Background and actions
As noted in Part One, the institutional architecture relating to waste management in New Zealand is largely shaped by ongoing implementation of the Resource Management Act 1991, the 2002 New Zealand Waste Strategy, the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, and the Local Government Act 1974 and 2002.
In particular, the requirement under the Resource Management Act to have resource consents for landfills and other waste treatment facilities created a strong incentive to upgrade the standards of waste disposal across the country. Under the Act, territorial authorities have clear responsibilities for land use consents and regional councils have related responsibilities covering discharges to water and air.
Territorial authorities were also given responsibilities for waste management under Part XXXI of the Local Government Act enacted in 1996. The legislation provided for the preparation of waste management plans by territorial authorities and required that they make provision for the collection and reduction, reuse, recycling, recovery, treatment and disposal of wastes. In 2002, a new Local Government Act provided more detailed guidance about the role of local government in waste management, in particular the preparation of waste management plans. The new Act, backed up by the New Zealand Waste Strategy, also set a timetable for the completion of waste management plans.
The Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 is also part of the waste management architecture given its role in managing the environmental risks of hazardous substances and the disposal of waste hazardous substances. This role was formally specified in the 2001 Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act disposal regulations which set disposal requirements for different classes of hazardous substances. A proposed amendment to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act to provide a 'group standards' mechanism for control of groups of like hazardous substances may also provide the basis for strengthened control and management of some hazardous wastes.
During the development of the New Zealand Waste Strategy, there were some requests by interested parties for legislative changes to help minimise and better manage waste. Inclusion of a specific objective in the strategy relating to institutional and legislative arrangements was intended to provide an opportunity to critically assess whether the policy direction articulated in the strategy was well supported by the existing legislative and institutional framework.
After the development of the New Zealand Waste Strategy, officials undertook a comprehensive analysis of the existing legislative base. This exercise identified some 'gaps' in the legislation relating to the management of contaminated sites, hazardous wastes and waste minimisation. It also identified a lack of legislative basis to introduce a mandatory product stewardship regime, should that be a tool that the Government wishes to pursue to manage a number of special wastes. All of the issues identified in the 'gaps analysis' have either already been addressed since that time, or are under active consideration.
Significant achievements - highlights
In the past decade, there have been a number of significant achievements in strengthening the legislative framework to improve the management of waste including:
- provision in the Local Government Act that all territorial authorities are to have waste management plans in place by 30 June 2005
- provision in the Local Government Act enabling local authorities to enact bylaws relating to their roles and responsibilities for waste management and the costs of these functions
- introduction of the first suite of 14 national environmental standards under the Resource Management Act. The 14 standards include:
- seven standards banning activities that discharge significant quantities of dioxins and other toxics into the air
- five standards for ambient (outdoor) air quality that set 'bottom lines' to protect people from harmful particulates
- a design standard for emissions and efficiency for new wood burners installed in urban areas
- a requirement for landfills over 1 million tonnes of capacity to collect and destroy greenhouse gas emissions
- draft amendments to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act to enable the development of 'group standards' for the management of groups of like hazardous substances (including waste hazardous substances)
- ratification of the Stockholm Convention, and an amendment to the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act to recognise a national implementation plan to meet New Zealand's commitments under the Convention
- development of a draft national product stewardship policy for dealing with special wastes. One option is for the development of specific legislation that could be used if needed to back up the implementation of voluntary, industry-led product stewardship schemes. This policy proposal is still subject to approval by government
- establishment of a work programme to develop a national environmental standards for cleaning up contamination in land. A discussion document on the proposed standard will be released for public consultation in November 2005.
- initial investigation, in conjunction with the wastewater industry, of the feasibility of developing a national environmental standard for the safe application of biosolids to land.
Achieve effective regional and local planning for waste minimisation and management
Background and actions
Before the development of the New Zealand Waste Strategy, waste management planning was undertaken largely by individual councils and focused primarily on the role of councils in managing solid waste. Some of the larger councils had the resources and the commitment to take significant initiatives. Christchurch City Council, for instance, placed a levy on the disposal of solid wastes and was able to use this to support both the collection of recyclable waste and the activities of the Recovered Materials Foundation, a successful outlet for recovered materials.
The process of developing the New Zealand Waste Strategy, however, helped underline that waste management was as much a regional issue as a local matter. Reflecting this, the New Zealand Waste Strategy specifically recognises that its successful implementation depends significantly on coordinated action by local government. The Waste Strategy also recognises that waste management planning at the local and regional levels provides the clearest basis for identifying both the local and regional waste management policies and priorities, and the actions needed to implement these. Such an approach has often coincided with the closure of local landfills and the development of large-scale regional landfills (see the developing and implementing information systems section on page 26).
Key advantages of a regionalised approach to waste minimisation and management are an improvement in economies of scale, more efficient resource use and ability to control and manage a wider range of wastes. These benefits are illustrated in the following case study.
Case Study 1: An example of the evolution of waste management planning in New Zealand - the West Coast Regional Waste Strategy
While the local authorities in the West Coast region were working independently on waste issues through both statutory and non-statutory means, there was a clear opportunity in early 2003 to coordinate and align both work programmes and strategic direction at a regional level.
The four councils (three territorial authorities and the West Coast Regional Council) considered each of the New Zealand Waste Strategy targets in light of the regional context and produced a document that articulates their approach to meeting the targets in the West Coast region. While the West Coast Regional Waste Strategy is a non-statutory document, it helps the local authorities draw together and maximise the effectiveness of the work programmes developed under each statutory waste management plan in the region.
The benefits of developing a regional strategy include better alignment of the three Waste Management Plans and identification/prioritisation of waste-related initiatives across the region. The recent employment of a regional waste officer (co-funded by the four local authorities with additional funding from the Ministry for the Environment's Sustainable Management Fund) is a clear example of the results of enhanced regional cooperation.
One outcome of the New Zealand Waste Strategy is the development of a comprehensive waste management planning facility on the Ministry for the Environment's website: www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/waste/ The facility provides a source of advice for councils, a medium for the exchange of 'best practice', and the opportunity for consideration of contemporary issues of common interest.
Good progress has been achieved by councils in incorporating the goals and objectives of the New Zealand Waste Strategy into local plans, specifically in developing and finalising waste management plans under the Local Government Act. Figures 1 and 2 on the next page are based on a recent review (March 2005) of progress on waste management plans.
Figure 2: Percentage of territorial authorities that have addressed New Zealand Waste Strategy targets in waste management plans
Significant achievements - highlights
In the past decade, there have been a number of significant achievements in improving regional and local waste planning including:
- a number of regional councils have facilitated integrated regional approaches to waste management planning and delivery (eg, Environment Waikato, Taranaki Regional Council and West Coast Regional Council)
- in other areas (eg, Southland, Canterbury, the Bay of Plenty and Auckland) joint initiatives have been successfully undertaken to improve coordination and delivery of waste management
- 82% of territorial authorities in New Zealand have developed waste management plans
- 74% of territorial authorities in New Zealand have included New Zealand Waste Strategy targets in their waste management plans
- a comprehensive web-based waste management planning facility has been developed to build capacity in territorial authorities and regional councils (www.mfe.govt.nz/issues/waste/)
- regular workshops and other forums have been convened to bring together territorial authorities, regional councils and waste industry representatives to discuss contemporary issues in waste management planning.
