Supporting the minister on waste

Let's not waste this opportunity

In an opinion piece in CarbonNews, the Bioenergy Association Executive Officer commented on the Minister's statement below and said...

"IT IS GOOD to see Environment Associate Minister Eugenie Sage providing a lead from the top with regard to addressing our waste.

The legislation allows minimisation, recycling and utilisation but our current practice is focused on the first of this hierarchy.  We need to take a more holistic approach to handling waste.  Requiring district waste plans to have a zero-waste-to-landfill approach would go a long way to changing the mindset about waste.

Separation of waste at source is critical to successful plan implementation, and those councils already with curbside separation are showing how easy it is to change mindsets..."  Read full article

Minister vows to fix our rubbish record on waste

THE GOVERNMENT will review the way the Waste Management Act is being implemented as New Zealand’s rubbish mountain climbs.

Figures show that 20 per cent more rubbish was dumped between 2013 and 2016 than in the previous three years, prompting officials to say that the public is not responding “appropriately” to price signals.

The Waste Management Act, introduced in 2008, imposes a $10-per-tonne levy on the dumping of waste at 45 of the country’s 381 rubbish dumps.  Read full article