Councils call for community ideas on reducing waste

People are being asked for their ideas on how to reduce waste as part of the Hastings district and Napier city councils’ review of their joint Waste Minimisation and Management Plan (WMMP).

The WMMP, which was last reviewed in 2017, is legally required to be updated every six years and public input is being sought to help set the goals and priorities for the next six years.

The overarching goal is to find ways to reduce waste and extend the life of the councils’ shared Ōmarunui landfill, and public feedback is being sought on how to achieve that.

This includes people’s views on issues such as how food waste could be reduced from both homes and businesses, how to stop recycling being put with general rubbish, and how businesses could be helped to reduce waste.

People have until June 30 to give their feedback and this early engagement process will help inform an updated draft WMMP that will be released for consultation in March 2025.

Part of the review includes conducting a waste assessment to measure what people are throwing out and whether more can be recycled.

Joint waste futures committee chair and Napier city councillor Hayley Browne said the latest survey in 2022 showed about 60 per cent of what was put in wheelie bins could be recycled, and about 35 per cent of what was taken to the transfer stations as rubbish could have been diverted from landfill – much of it food and green waste.

“If we can get compostable garden and food waste out of the general waste stream there are considerable benefits to ratepayers through getting a longer life out of the landfill, and to the environment.”

Deputy chair and Hastings district councillor Ana Apatu said as a result of the current WMMP, adopted in 2018, the new kerbside recycling and rubbish services had been introduced, and there had been increased education and support to empower residents, service users and communities to prioritise efforts in waste reduction.

“The amount of recyclable and compostable materials being put in wheelie bins has been reducing, but as a community we still need to do more to meet our goals of diverting recyclables and organics from going to landfill.”

Go to www.myvoicemychoice.co.nz or www.sayitnapier.nz/ncc/ to help shape the 2025-2031 waste plan.

10 June 2024

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