New Plymouth local government meeting

26 October 2005

National Environmental Standards

Contaminated land needs to include the environmental numbers as well. Human health protection is only a small part of the issue.
The technical and policy review groups do not agree with National Environmental Protection Measures (NEPM). The technical review group recommended 9 points. NEPM is faulty and yet these measures have still been proposed. Guideline Number 2 sets up a hierarchy of what guidelines to choose. The NEPM numbers do not have the same methodology behind them. They are not consistent or defensible.
Some contaminants are not listed (e.g. barium).
Compare the new definition in the Act ‘reasonably likely’ to ‘low probability’. Which one is valid?
The Environmental Risk Management Authority can set a range of Environment Exposure Levels (EELs) or Tolerable Exposure Levels (TELs) for different land uses.

The devil will be in the detail. We want to be kept involved in the development process and want to have input into the detail of the final standard.
Unwholesome - includes taste which is very difficult to deal with as it involves nutrients.

At the New Plymouth transfer station private waste overflow is sent to the landfill. Whiteware costs $4 per item at the transfer station.
An annual in-organic collection of whiteware and other materials is taken to Eltham.
The Patea and Mania tips are to be closed and replaced by Colson Road. This will cost ½ million extra in transport for Hawera District Council.
Recycling bins - currently 45L is collected weekly but this will change to 240L collected monthly.
Recycled material is taken from the co-mingled plant and is then sorted. The quality of resource from the co-mingled collection is lower than pre-sorted recycling.
More must be done regarding the separation and sorting of wastes (e.g. recyclables should be sorted into material types).
Discussed possibilities of collections for each type of waste but issues need to be considered (receptacles, timing for collections and sorting).

We need a unified waste education system. This is starting to be tackled in schools but they need resources. There is no national theme (e.g. logo or mascot).
Fly tipping is an issue everywhere and is being dealt with on a case by case basis. This is generally minor in quantity and if already in bags are picked up by collectors.

Last updated: 17 September 2007