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e-WasteAwareness March 2013 - WasteMINZ
e-WasteAwareness March 2013 - WasteMINZ
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16 + 17 May 2013<br />
Mac’s Function Centre<br />
4 Taranaki St, Wellington<br />
Keynote presentation by 2010 Australian of<br />
the year and food waste campaigner Jon Dee<br />
Stream dedicated to organic<br />
materials, including:<br />
• Issues and opportunities<br />
• Determining key drivers for<br />
organic waste diversion<br />
• Hear from innovative<br />
solution providers<br />
• Learn how to specify and<br />
evaluate services<br />
Other workshops and<br />
presentations include:<br />
• ETS update and waste<br />
disposal levy<br />
• Waste data workshop<br />
• Land disposal guidelines<br />
workshop<br />
• Product stewardship and<br />
the Waste Minimisation Act<br />
Tours of Wellington’s<br />
Kai-to-Compost operation<br />
and <strong>Kaibosh</strong> Food Rescue<br />
Plus great networking opportunities and more<br />
Book by 31 March 2013<br />
to get the early bird rates<br />
Spaces are strictly limited, so<br />
don’t delay. For more information<br />
and to book your spot visit<br />
www.wasteminz.org.nz
contents<br />
16<br />
19<br />
12<br />
on the cover : Mike from <strong>Kaibosh</strong> selecting produce at the market.<br />
Chief executive officer<br />
Paul Evans \ +64 9 476 7172<br />
paul@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
Membership manager<br />
Carole Inglis \ +64 9 476 7163<br />
carole@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
Office manager<br />
CJ Dooner \ +64 9 476 7162<br />
cj@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
Sector group co-ordinator<br />
Nic Quilty \ +64 9 476 7167<br />
nic@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
Editor, Waste Awareness<br />
Kim Mundell \ +64 21 655 917<br />
wasteminz@gmail.com<br />
design, Waste Awareness<br />
Leanne Lassman \ +64 21 267 3885<br />
leanne@electrichedgehog.co.nz<br />
T +64 9 476 7162 F +64 9 476 7164<br />
PO Box 305426, Triton Plaza, North Shore 0757<br />
Unit 1B, 5 Ceres Court, Rosedale Auckland 0632<br />
New Zealand<br />
www.wasteminz.org.nz<br />
WasteMINZ is the authoritative voice on<br />
waste and resource recovery in New Zealand,<br />
and seeks to achieve ongoing and positive<br />
development of our industry.<br />
WasteMINZ publishes Waste Awareness<br />
magazine five times a year, it plays a vital role in<br />
ensuring our members are up-to-date with the<br />
latest in industry news, policy and legislative<br />
changes as well as innovations and advances.<br />
NZ ISSN 1170–1935<br />
features<br />
12<br />
PUTting THE KAIBOSH<br />
ON FOOD WASTE<br />
Food rescue safely retrieves<br />
edible food that would otherwise<br />
go to waste. Paul Evans talks to<br />
Wellington’s innovative and award<br />
winning <strong>Kaibosh</strong> organisation.<br />
16<br />
CURTAILING<br />
CONSTRUCTION WASTE<br />
Best Home provides resources and<br />
tools to encourage the construction<br />
of more resource efficient and<br />
sustainable homes. Paul Evans<br />
investigates the results to date.<br />
19<br />
VALUING OUR<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
ENTERPRISES<br />
Sue Coutts explains how councils<br />
benefit from working with community<br />
recycling organisations.<br />
22<br />
what is the CoPTTM?<br />
Version four of the Code of Practice<br />
for Temporary Traffic Management.<br />
24<br />
THE WORLD OF<br />
ORGANIC WASTE<br />
George Fietje shares what he learnt on<br />
a tour of organic waste collection and<br />
processing facilities in six countries.<br />
regulars<br />
4 from paul's desk<br />
5 your board<br />
6 NEWS BITES<br />
10 MINISTRY FOr the<br />
environment<br />
26 COUNCIL NEWS<br />
28 SECTOR GROUPS<br />
29 mid-year<br />
roundup<br />
30 events<br />
31 gold + silver<br />
members<br />
mar 2013 \ WWW.WASTEMINZ.ORG.NZ \ 3
from paul's desk<br />
Talk to me<br />
+64 9 476 7172<br />
Paul Evans CEO, WasteMINZ<br />
paul@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
I hope you all had a fantastic break<br />
over the Christmas period and have<br />
recharged your batteries for the<br />
challenges of the year ahead. In the<br />
WasteMINZ office there has been a<br />
steady hum of activity since early in<br />
the New Year, as we’ve begun work<br />
in earnest on a number of our key<br />
projects for the year. These include:<br />
Mid-year Roundup<br />
On 16 and 17 May our Mid-year<br />
Roundup will be held in Wellington.<br />
For those who haven’t attended<br />
a roundup before, they are more<br />
compact and less formal than<br />
our conference with 100 and 150<br />
attendees. Consequently sessions<br />
are often held in workshop<br />
format allowing much more<br />
interaction between presenters and<br />
participants. This year’s roundup will<br />
have a stream dedicated to organic<br />
materials to build upon the newly<br />
established organic materials sector<br />
group. Organics make up some<br />
50 percent of domestic waste and<br />
we believe that a waste stream this<br />
significant requires strong focus<br />
from WasteMINZ to support a sound<br />
and cohesive approach across New<br />
Zealand. You can read more about<br />
the roundup on page 29.<br />
WasteMINZ Conference<br />
This October, in Rotorua, we will be<br />
holding our annual conference and<br />
trade exhibition. 2013 will be the 25th<br />
WasteMINZ conference, so we’re<br />
determined to mark this milestone (a<br />
quarter century, no less!) with a top<br />
notch event and phenomenal array<br />
of world class speakers. We want to<br />
ensure the programme is jam packed<br />
full of fresh and innovative content,<br />
so if you have any ideas we’d love to<br />
hear them.<br />
Health and Safety<br />
Guidelines<br />
We’ll continue the development of<br />
the Health and Safety guidelines<br />
for the solid waste and resource<br />
recovery sector. Parts one and two<br />
were completed and published<br />
in 2012 and it is our intention this<br />
year to complete parts three and<br />
four, which include refuse transfer<br />
stations, resource recovery facilities<br />
and MRFs. This project is possible<br />
due to funding being made available<br />
by the WasteMINZ board and a<br />
number of commercial partners.<br />
National Waste Data<br />
Project<br />
Waste data or the lack thereof has<br />
been a hot subject in our industry<br />
for a very long time. Our long term<br />
goal is to see the development of a<br />
single, comprehensive, robust and<br />
fit-for-purpose nationwide waste<br />
data solution that provides local,<br />
central government and industry<br />
with high quality information to<br />
support waste minimisation and<br />
operational good practice.<br />
Land Disposal Guidelines<br />
We’ll also advance our land disposal<br />
guidelines project. This is covered<br />
off in detail in Simonne Eldridge’s<br />
board column, so I won’t steal<br />
Simonne’s thunder by talking about<br />
it here.<br />
TA Procurement Calendar<br />
Last but not least we will develop a<br />
procurement calendar for Territorial<br />
Authorities. This will detail what TA<br />
waste and recycling contracts are<br />
coming up, with the intention of<br />
assisting TAs to make more informed<br />
scheduling decisions, so that where<br />
possible tender periods don’t<br />
conflict. We’ve had strong feedback<br />
from the industry that at times<br />
the number of concurrent tenders<br />
in the market results in the need<br />
to prioritise resources, meaning<br />
that some TAs could potentially<br />
be missing out on innovative and<br />
high quality tenders. We think this<br />
resource will be a positive step<br />
forward and a valuable tool for all of<br />
our members.<br />
WasteMINZ is a member<br />
organisation so we are here to<br />
support you in your efforts to<br />
advance our industry as well as<br />
improve waste and recycling<br />
outcomes in New Zealand. If we can<br />
be of assistance to you please don’t<br />
hesitate to pick up the phone or<br />
drop us a line.<br />
Paul<br />
4
Your Board<br />
Simonne Eldridge<br />
seldridge@tonkin.co.nz<br />
We are currently in the second year<br />
of the strategic alliance between<br />
WasteMINZ and the Ministry for<br />
the Environment. The alliance was<br />
formed to promote collaboration<br />
across the waste and resource<br />
recovery sector and to enhance<br />
both organisations’ ability to deliver<br />
value. I would like to formally<br />
acknowledge the Ministry for<br />
their support and commitment to<br />
WasteMINZ and their willingness to<br />
advance matters of importance to<br />
the industry.<br />
As part of this strategic alliance,<br />
WasteMINZ has received part<br />
funding to develop technical<br />
guidelines for the disposal to<br />
land of residual waste and other<br />
materials. This document will<br />
provide technical guidance on<br />
the siting, design, construction,<br />
operation, monitoring, closure<br />
and post closure management<br />
for disposal to land and will bring<br />
together the existing clean fill and<br />
CAE landfill documents. It will also<br />
seek to establish good practice<br />
requirements for the various types<br />
of disposal facilities based on waste<br />
acceptance criteria.<br />
I believe there is a strong need<br />
for this guidance as the existing<br />
documents were developed<br />
at different times to different<br />
briefs and as a result there are<br />
inconsistencies. Furthermore the<br />
Waste Minimisation Act and the<br />
Emissions Trading Scheme have<br />
placed requirements on disposal<br />
facilities that accept household<br />
waste. This has resulted in waste<br />
flight with potential harmful effects<br />
on the environment if not properly<br />
managed.<br />
We are firmly committed to<br />
ensuring that these guidelines<br />
will be of value right across our<br />
sector, for designers, owners,<br />
operators and regulators. As<br />
with all WasteMINZ projects we<br />
are implementing an inclusive<br />
process that provides stakeholders<br />
with the opportunity to provide<br />
input and feedback. A project<br />
team with representatives from<br />
territorial authorities, regional<br />
councils and the commercial<br />
sector has been established to<br />
guide the development. There will<br />
also be a number of consultation<br />
opportunities, through WasteMINZ<br />
events (such as the upcoming<br />
mid-year roundup in May) and the<br />
opportunity to provide feedback on<br />
draft documents.<br />
So it you’re passionate about<br />
this topic or would like to discuss<br />
it further I would encourage you to<br />
get in touch with us.<br />
Simonne<br />
how to CONTACT YOUR BOARD MEMBERS<br />
Paul Bishop Chair<br />
\ EnviroWaste Services Ltd<br />
paul.bishop@envirowaste.co.nz<br />
Darren Patterson Deputy chair<br />
\ Patterson Environmental<br />
darren@pattersonenvironmental.co.nz<br />
Grahame Christian<br />
\ Smart Environmental<br />
grahamec@smartenvironmental.co.nz<br />
John Dragicevich<br />
\ Auckland Council<br />
john.dragicevich@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz<br />
Simonne Eldridge<br />
\ Tonkin & Taylor<br />
seldridge@tonkin.co.nz<br />
Dominic Salmon<br />
\ Hastings District Council<br />
dominics@hdc.govt.nz<br />
mar 2013 \ WWW.WASTEMINZ.ORG.NZ \ 5
MOVERS &<br />
SHAKERS<br />
Working with you for a greener tomorrow<br />
EnviroWaste Services Limited<br />
provides complete solutions for the<br />
environmentally safe management<br />
and disposal of waste<br />
Specific areas<br />
of expertise include:<br />
• Recycling/Recovery<br />
Solutions<br />
• Waste Collection<br />
• Bulk Waste<br />
Transfer Operations<br />
• Waste Disposal at Landfills<br />
and Transfer Stations<br />
• Landfill Design<br />
• Leachate Control<br />
and Monitoring<br />
• Landfill Post-Closure<br />
Aftercare<br />
• Hazardous Waste<br />
Treatment and Disposal<br />
• Contaminated Site<br />
Remediation<br />
• Stormwater Monitoring<br />
• Landfill Gas Extraction,<br />
Processing and Monitoring<br />
0800 240 120<br />
www.envirowaste.co.nz<br />
BRIAN GALLAGHER<br />
Brian has recently taken up<br />
position as the Timaru/Oamaru<br />
Branch Manager for Transpacific<br />
Waste Management. Brian,<br />
a previous Board Member of<br />
WasteMINZ, has had extensive<br />
experience over the past 23 years<br />
in the solid waste field and is<br />
looking forward to being involved<br />
with the Transpacific operations<br />
and staff in Timaru and Oamaru.<br />
He can be contacted on Brian.<br />
Gallagher@wastemanagement.<br />
co.nz.<br />
Olwen Davies<br />
Olwen has recently joined the Waste<br />
and Resources team at the Ministry<br />
for the Environment, covering for<br />
Fiona Newlove while she is on<br />
maternity leave.<br />
Olwen is from the Netherlands,<br />
where she worked with business<br />
and local councils on waste related<br />
issues. She can be contacted via<br />
email on olwen.davies@mfe.govt.nz.<br />
DALE ANTHONY<br />
Dale has recently joined the Solid<br />
Waste Unit at Auckland Council as<br />
Asset and Infrastructure Manager.<br />
Dale transferred from the<br />
Enterprise Project Management<br />
Office, where he was primarily<br />
responsible for the re-opening of<br />
the Historic Tepid Baths. Dale’s<br />
experience in waste goes some<br />
16 years back to the UK where<br />
he was responsible for landfill,<br />
transfer, recycling, organic<br />
processing and hazardous waste<br />
operations. He came to Auckland<br />
in 2008, working for GHD as an<br />
environmental consultant working<br />
with Manukau City, Masterton and<br />
Carterton councils on a variety<br />
of waste related projects. His<br />
primary focus at Auckland Council<br />
will be the investment in new<br />
infrastructure such as resource<br />
recovery networks, organic<br />
processing facilities and delivering<br />
on the WMMP to ensure Auckland<br />
has a sustainable future.<br />
adrian gardner<br />
Adrian Gardner, currently with<br />
Maccaferri NZ Ltd will join the<br />
Tasman Tank Co in March as a<br />
Project Manager. Tasman Tanks<br />
NZ specialises in storage solutions<br />
for potable water, waste water and<br />
effluent. Adrian can be contacted<br />
on salesnz@tasmantanks.com.au<br />
and +64 3 379 9444.
www.mfe.govt.nz<br />
EPA BFR Guidance<br />
The Environmental Protection<br />
Authority has recently published<br />
guidelines on the export of<br />
electronic waste (e-waste). E-waste<br />
is defined as obsolete, broken or<br />
end of life electrical or electronic<br />
devices and it is one of the fastest<br />
growing categories of hazardous<br />
waste in the world.<br />
New Zealand is signatory to<br />
international conventions which<br />
prevent hazardous waste from being<br />
shipped from developed countries<br />
to inappropriate facilities in less<br />
developed countries.<br />
You cannot export hazardous waste<br />
out of New Zealand without a permit.<br />
This includes plastics that include<br />
Brominated Flame Retardants<br />
(BFRs) which are commonly used in<br />
electronic goods. A permit must be<br />
obtained from the EPA, the agency<br />
responsible for administering the<br />
relevant regulations.<br />
Many items of electronic waste are<br />
hazardous and they have special<br />
requirements for transportation and<br />
treatment. Without the right permit,<br />
shipments of hazardous e-waste may<br />
be seized at a New Zealand port or<br />
may be refused entry en route, or<br />
at the destination. This could cost<br />
the exporter time and money. The<br />
export of e-waste is not necessarily<br />
banned but it is closely controlled<br />
through the permitting system.<br />
The EPA, along with its new<br />
information sheet for exporters of<br />
e-waste, offers a raft of information<br />
on its website that helps exporters<br />
work through the processes to gain a<br />
permit. The guidelines can be found<br />
at: www.epa.govt.nz/Publications/<br />
Exportelectronicwaste.pdf<br />
TVTB updates : Do you want updates on TV TakeBack?<br />
The Ministry for the Environment is putting together a mailing list for people interested in staying up to<br />
date with news on the Government’s TV TakeBack programme. If you would like to receive updates please<br />
email tvtakeback@mfe.govt.nz with “Add TVTB mailing list” in the subject line.<br />
Visy Recycling Education Centre<br />
Learning about the environment and how we can all play our part in<br />
protecting and improving it is now an established part of the school curricula.<br />
At Visy Recycling we provide educational tours not only for school groups but<br />
also for community groups and businesses to learn more about what happens<br />
to their recycling once it leaves the kerbside.<br />
Tours are run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at our Onehunga Material<br />
Recovery Facility (MRF) bookings are essential.<br />
Please contact<br />
Meredith Graham<br />
Education & Marketing Manager<br />
for more information.<br />
Ph (09) 975 2003<br />
meredith.graham@visy.co.nz | www.visy.co.nz
Whakatane's<br />
community reuse centre<br />
During 2012, a reuse centre was<br />
established in Whakatane, Eastern<br />
Bay of Plenty by Community<br />
Resources Whakatane (CReW).<br />
The establishment phase of this<br />
project was supported through the<br />
Government’s Waste Minimisation<br />
Fund.<br />
CReW researched a number<br />
of existing best practice facilities<br />
throughout the country. Using this<br />
research and their own experience<br />
of what has and has not worked<br />
during the first six months of<br />
operation, CReW produced an<br />
‘Establishment Guide’ for reuse<br />
centres. This guide is designed<br />
to be complimentary to the<br />
WasteMINZ publication “The<br />
New Zealand Resource Recovery<br />
Park Design Guide” produced in<br />
September 2008.<br />
The Establishment Guide<br />
provides information for other<br />
communities wishing to set up a<br />
similar project on where to start<br />
and what needs to be considered.<br />
There are sections on relevant<br />
legislation, different management<br />
and ownership structures, operating<br />
costs, health and safety, tips<br />
for success, sources of funding<br />
and income, and becoming selfsustaining.<br />
The guide provides<br />
an overview of how community<br />
reuse and recycling initiatives can<br />
fit into wider government work<br />
programmes under the Waste<br />
Minimisation Act 2008.<br />
CReW actively encourages other<br />
communities to get in touch for<br />
guidance. For further information<br />
about CReW and the Community<br />
Reuse Centre Establishment Guide<br />
please email info@crewonline.org.nz<br />
or call +64 7 308 5963.<br />
mar 2013 \ WWW.WASTEMINZ.ORG.NZ \ 11
Recently the New Zealand<br />
Herald reported the<br />
alarming fact that as much<br />
as half of all the food produced<br />
in the world—two billion tonnes<br />
worth—ends up being thrown<br />
away. The story stated that<br />
the waste is caused by poor<br />
infrastructure and storage facilities,<br />
over-strict sell-by dates, "getone-free''<br />
offers, and consumer<br />
fussiness.<br />
On a personal level, despite<br />
being a relatively aware consumer,<br />
I find myself contributing to the<br />
problem: often it seems I throw<br />
out more salad than I ate. However<br />
this isn’t just an ‘at home’ issue,<br />
food waste affects businesses<br />
too, particularly those in the<br />
food industry, including cafés,<br />
restaurants, retailers and more.<br />
Simply put, food waste makes<br />
no business sense at all. Every bit<br />
of food a business throws out has<br />
been paid for and then the business<br />
has to pay for that waste to be<br />
collected. Reducing food waste<br />
in the first place is a key way to<br />
improve a business’s efficiency and<br />
bottom line. Finding an alternative<br />
means of disposal not only reduces<br />
cost but also ensures the food is<br />
beneficially reused, which is a great<br />
way to help your business and to<br />
also help our communities and our<br />
environment.<br />
Food rescue is an increasingly<br />
popular option both here in New<br />
Zealand and around the world.<br />
Food rescue safely retrieves edible<br />
food that would otherwise go to<br />
waste and distributes it to those<br />
who need it most. In most cases,<br />
the rescued food is perfectly<br />
edible, but not suitable for sale. It<br />
could be day old bread, bagged<br />
lettuce past its best-before date,<br />
or even unblemished food which is<br />
simply surplus to requirements.<br />
To give you a first-hand<br />
understanding of what food<br />
recovery is, and how it works<br />
here in New Zealand, we talked<br />
to Matt Dagger, general manager<br />
of Wellington’s innovative and<br />
award winning <strong>Kaibosh</strong> www.<br />
kaibosh.org.nz.<br />
<strong>Kaibosh</strong> was founded by<br />
Robyn and George Langlands in<br />
2008 and was New Zealand’s first<br />
and Wellington’s only dedicated<br />
food rescue organisation. With a<br />
vision of “Zero food poverty and<br />
zero food waste” <strong>Kaibosh</strong> was<br />
established in response to a need<br />
in the community. With stretched<br />
financial resources, charities were<br />
struggling to source and purchase<br />
quality food while at the same time<br />
a huge amount of food was being<br />
needlessly discarded by the food<br />
industry.<br />
<strong>Kaibosh</strong> came from modest<br />
beginnings where the Langlands<br />
rescued food one night a week<br />
and stored it in their home fridge,<br />
before taking it to a drop-in centre<br />
the next day. Now, almost five years<br />
later, <strong>Kaibosh</strong> has a community<br />
office, five employees, and a<br />
dedicated team of more than 65<br />
regular volunteers.<br />
makers of safe, sustainable,<br />
ocean-friendly glass packaging<br />
EnvironmEntalists know glass lovEs thE sEa.<br />
“Glass comes from nature,” says Céline Cousteau. “It’s<br />
made from sand, limestone and soda ash. It’s safe for<br />
human life and ocean life. And it’s endlessly recyclable,<br />
so it’s sustainable for our blue planet. Choose glass for<br />
yourself, for dolphins, for sea turtles, for our future.”<br />
GlassIsLife.com<br />
TM<br />
On behalf of Céline Cousteau, O-I is making a donation to the World Resources Institute’s Reefs at Risk Initiative.
We put some<br />
questions to Matt<br />
Dagger on your<br />
behalf.<br />
What does <strong>Kaibosh</strong> do?<br />
“We collaborate with food retailers<br />
to prevent surplus food that’s good<br />
enough to eat, but not good enough<br />
to sell, from being discarded<br />
into landfills. We redistribute this<br />
food to charities that work with<br />
individuals and families who are<br />
struggling to make ends meet”,<br />
explains Matt. “In the past twelve<br />
months we’ve rescued 53,000 kg of<br />
good food from being needlessly<br />
thrown away and ensured that it<br />
has reached those who need it<br />
most. We’ve achieved this by being<br />
the link between 19 different food<br />
retailers/producers and 17 different<br />
Wellington charities.”<br />
Why do businesses<br />
donate?<br />
“I believe that the key motivator is<br />
a desire to prevent needless waste,<br />
even though there may not be a huge<br />
financial benefit to them. Businesses<br />
also seem to appreciate that many<br />
people are struggling to make ends<br />
meet and this is one way they can do<br />
their bit to help” says Matt.<br />
Other motivators include:<br />
• It's free! Surplus food is collected<br />
at no cost to the business.<br />
• It’s easy! It's no different to<br />
throwing food away. Instead<br />
of throwing food into a<br />
bin, businesses put it into a<br />
cardboard box or bag ready for<br />
pick up. We also work to the<br />
businesses' schedule and collect<br />
their surplus food when it's most<br />
convenient for them.<br />
• Donating businesses attract<br />
more customers. Supporters of<br />
<strong>Kaibosh</strong> also want to support<br />
the other businesses that<br />
donate to us.<br />
• Donating increases the value of<br />
their brand. Customers love that<br />
businesses are reducing waste<br />
and donating to charity at the<br />
same time.<br />
• Donating surplus food is great<br />
for staff morale and buy-in.<br />
Why don’t more<br />
businesses donate?<br />
“There’s a wide range of reasons<br />
why businesses don’t get involved,<br />
but a key one seems to be a lack<br />
of awareness. Despite our track<br />
record, success and very best<br />
promotional efforts there are still<br />
many who aren’t aware of food<br />
rescue as a viable alternative to the<br />
rubbish bin”, says Matt.<br />
Staffing constraints can be a<br />
barrier. “Operating a food rescue<br />
programme does require a small<br />
amount of employee time, though<br />
probably no more than just tossing<br />
it in the bin. However some<br />
businesses don’t want to spend<br />
more time managing something<br />
that in their minds is a waste<br />
product. So a key thing is trying to<br />
get them to understand that this<br />
isn’t waste, it’s actually a valuable<br />
resource which can make a real<br />
difference in our community.”<br />
“Naturally there are also some<br />
compliance concerns”, says Matt.<br />
“This can include businesses not<br />
understanding the difference<br />
between best-before and use-by<br />
dates on food items, concerns about<br />
food safety and donor liability, or<br />
not having an organisational food<br />
donation policy.”<br />
“These are generally relatively<br />
minor things which can all<br />
be overcome; however it can<br />
sometimes just seem too hard for<br />
businesses.”<br />
While still in its fledgling stages in<br />
New Zealand, food rescue is set to<br />
grow. There are already operations<br />
in Dunedin (FoodShare), West<br />
Auckland (Fair Food), Christchurch<br />
(0800 HUNGRY) and Palmerston<br />
North (Just Zilch) to name but a few.<br />
If there is a food rescue<br />
organisation in your area then<br />
please support it, as your efforts<br />
can make a real difference. And<br />
if there’s not, why not consider<br />
starting one? To help you <strong>Kaibosh</strong><br />
have developed this simple guide<br />
to starting up a food rescue<br />
organisation: http://bit.ly/kaibosh<br />
14
a d v e r t o r i a l<br />
Put the<br />
landfill<br />
on a diet<br />
Move to<br />
food waste<br />
collection<br />
Whichever way you look at it, food waste collection should be the next big thing in waste management.<br />
We are not saying that just because we have run the first successful dedicated food waste collection trial in<br />
New Zealand. We are not saying it because we have built a financial model to make it work for everyone.<br />
We are saying it because local authorities have a unique mix of pressures and opportunities that should<br />
drive food waste collection to the top of the agenda.<br />
Relieve pressure on landfills:<br />
food accounts for over 40% of<br />
the average household waste.<br />
Diverting it away from the landfill<br />
relieves pressure on land, staff and<br />
infrastructure.<br />
Achieve impressive greenhouse<br />
mitigation goals: Food waste<br />
decomposes in our landfills to<br />
produce methane which is a<br />
greenhouse gas 21 times more<br />
potent than carbon dioxide.<br />
Internationally, landfills account for<br />
about 20% of methane emissions.<br />
Give the agricultural sector<br />
a huge boost. Food waste is<br />
a valuable resource used in<br />
the production of high-quality<br />
agricultural compost that can<br />
increase crop yields by up to 15%.<br />
A 1% iNCReAse iN CRop yield equAtes to $30 MillioN<br />
iNCReAsed ReveNue FoR NZ’s hoRtiCultuRAl iNdustRy. *<br />
Compost on an industrial scale.<br />
Incredibly, Kiwis, just like the rest of<br />
the global population, throw away<br />
about 40% of all food produced. It<br />
could be turned into compost.<br />
●●Compost reduces the need for<br />
cultivation by improving the soil<br />
structure.<br />
●●<br />
Improved soil structure reduces<br />
erosion by improving the<br />
ground’s water-holding capacity.<br />
●●This, in turn, reduces irrigation<br />
requirements.<br />
●●Greener fields: compost reduces<br />
the need for other fertilisers<br />
which reduce the cost of<br />
production.<br />
●●Good compost improves soil and<br />
plant health, boosting disease<br />
resistance and fostering better<br />
yield.<br />
FuRtheR iNFoRMAtioN ANd ReAdiNG<br />
Earthcare Environmental knows how to make food waste collection work for territorial authorities. We have built<br />
the financial, operational and marketing models to achieve it. For more information, including on our Putaruru<br />
Food Trial, visit www.earthcarenz.co.nz. On the home page you can download the Household Organic Waste<br />
Cost Benefit Analysis report we commissioned leading environmental research firm Eunomia to undertake.<br />
If you would like additional information, contact our CEO, Mike Jones, directly on mike@earthcarenz.co.nz<br />
www.earthcarenz.co.nz<br />
* “Household Organic Waste Cost Benefit Analysis”<br />
2010, Eunomia Research and Consulting.<br />
mar 2013 \ WWW.WASTEMINZ.ORG.NZ \ 15
Best Home <br />
curtailing construction waste<br />
By Paul Evans, CEO WasteMINZ<br />
Best Home is a joint initiative between local<br />
government and the building industry offering<br />
builders and designers a one-stop-shop package<br />
of resources and tools to encourage and support<br />
the construction of more resource efficient and<br />
sustainable homes, and in the process curtailing<br />
construction waste. The construction methods<br />
used in Best Home are expected, on average,<br />
to reduce landfill waste by 75 percent, which is<br />
hugely significant when you consider the average<br />
amount of waste created from a new build is<br />
around 5000kg!<br />
Best Home builds provide:<br />
• A Homestar rating of 6 or<br />
higher<br />
• Building waste management<br />
and reduction<br />
• Greater use of renewable<br />
energy resources (such as solar)<br />
• Orientated to take full<br />
advantage of the sun<br />
• Thermal mass capability<br />
• External shade elements for<br />
summer cooling<br />
• Incorporating low-energy<br />
lighting systems<br />
• Kitchen / bathroom extraction<br />
ventilation<br />
• Higher levels of insulation<br />
16
Whilst still in its pilot project<br />
phase, which includes<br />
the construction of<br />
New Zealand’s first Best Home,<br />
the initiative will provide the New<br />
Zealand home building industry with<br />
a best practice model enabling new<br />
builds which create less construction<br />
waste, are more energy efficient and<br />
economical to run, and ultimately<br />
more comfortable to live in. The<br />
pilot has demonstrated it is feasible<br />
to build a minimum 6-star rated<br />
home for no more than 5 percent<br />
additional cost when compared to a<br />
traditional home build.<br />
Best Home is a not-for-profit<br />
initiative between Hastings District<br />
Council and the largest residential<br />
construction firm in Hawke’s Bay,<br />
Horvath Homes, with technical<br />
support and advice provided by<br />
Beacon Pathway Incorporated.<br />
Underpinning Best Home is a more<br />
scientific approach to home design<br />
and construction, incorporating<br />
simple but effective changes which<br />
result in material efficiency, energy<br />
savings and importantly a more<br />
comfortable home environment.<br />
Best Home was developed<br />
following a community consultation<br />
process that focused on creating<br />
more sustainable and resource<br />
efficient communities. The Best<br />
Home approach encourages<br />
performance improvement in home<br />
design and construction to a level<br />
which exceeds current building<br />
code standards. Included within the<br />
package is a ‘green tape’ building<br />
consent process whereby Council<br />
has committed to processing<br />
plans meeting Best Home<br />
criteria within five working days<br />
(compared to the usual 20 days).<br />
Malcom Hart, Building Consents<br />
Manager for Hastings District<br />
Council says, “Even though we saw<br />
the demand for more sustainable<br />
homes increasing, we recognised<br />
there was no integrated package<br />
available that supports designers<br />
and builders to enter the sustainable<br />
housing market. With Best Home<br />
we intend to fill that gap.“<br />
“Best Home utilises the New<br />
Zealand Green Building Council’s<br />
Homestar rating tool which<br />
measures the energy efficiency and<br />
performance of a home. “While<br />
the majority of new builds today<br />
achieve at best a three or four star<br />
rating out of a possible 10, Best<br />
Home will set a new benchmark”<br />
says Malcom. “Every Best Home<br />
build will achieve a minimum six<br />
stars at no more than 5 percent<br />
additional cost of a standard build.”<br />
continues on next page<br />
LOOKING<br />
FOR A GLASS<br />
GRANT?<br />
The Forum is committed to ensuring<br />
that as much waste container<br />
glass as possible is diverted from<br />
landfill and put to an effective use.<br />
It recognises that this can only<br />
be achieved if there is input into<br />
the critical areas of infrastructure,<br />
education of the community and<br />
co-operation with local commercial<br />
recyclers and local authorities.<br />
In some locations it may be<br />
necessary to utilise local alternative<br />
uses or upgrade infrastructure<br />
to improve glass quality and/<br />
or the tonnages recycled.<br />
Councils and community groups are<br />
invited to apply for funding to assist<br />
glass recycling projects. Refer to the<br />
Forum’s website for the application<br />
form and the criteria for grants.<br />
Funding projects to date include:<br />
• Infrastructure for the collection of<br />
quality glass for remanufacture into<br />
new containers<br />
• Support infrastructure for<br />
the collection of glass at<br />
community events<br />
• Trials of glass as a substitute for<br />
sand in golf courses/sports fields<br />
• Engineering report on glass in<br />
building slab construction<br />
• The separation at source<br />
bin for single collections<br />
with glass separate<br />
• Modification of MD4 specifications<br />
to allow glass in road construction<br />
GET IN TOUCH WITH<br />
John Webber<br />
john@glassforum.org.nz<br />
www.glassforum.org.nz
Top five tips<br />
for minimising<br />
waste on<br />
construction<br />
sites<br />
Identify what you<br />
are trying to achieve<br />
in terms of waste<br />
management. Is it<br />
simply about cost<br />
saving or is there<br />
a bigger goal?<br />
Get all site personnel<br />
to buy into the<br />
scheme. Educate<br />
them about what<br />
goes to landfill<br />
from construction<br />
each year and what<br />
this means for our<br />
environment.<br />
Identify your<br />
recycling partners<br />
and talk to them to<br />
find solutions that<br />
will work for you.<br />
Clearly identify how<br />
you are going to<br />
implement waste<br />
minimisation onsite,<br />
which personnel<br />
are involved, where<br />
accountability sits<br />
and how you will<br />
record your results.<br />
Whatever system<br />
you choose: keep it<br />
simple and low tech.<br />
continues from page 17<br />
A pilot show home in Havelock North<br />
built by Horvath Homes will be the<br />
subject of a case study to improve<br />
understanding of sustainable design<br />
and construction techniques. We<br />
talked to Horvarth Homes Managing<br />
Director Adam Horvarth about<br />
why they got involved and how<br />
they’ve been bitten by the waste<br />
minimisation bug.<br />
Q&A with<br />
Adam Horvarth<br />
How would you describe<br />
Best Home?<br />
“It’s a non-exclusive, best practice<br />
sustainable housing initiative<br />
between local government and the<br />
building industry” says Adam. “The<br />
initiative supports and encourages<br />
the design and construction of<br />
more energy efficient homes in New<br />
Zealand for minimal additional cost.<br />
It is an initiative open to the building<br />
and construction industry and all<br />
local authorities.“<br />
How did Horvarth Homes<br />
get involved?<br />
“We have a drive to always be<br />
improving what we do and the<br />
standard of home we deliver. We<br />
had seen a real demand over the<br />
last few years for more sustainable<br />
options. When Hastings District<br />
Council first mentioned the initiative,<br />
we wanted to jump on board and be<br />
part of it, to lead by example.”<br />
For Best Home to be<br />
successful other builders<br />
need to get involved, how do<br />
you think you'll achieve this?<br />
“Our show home has only been<br />
open for a matter of weeks and we<br />
are already getting other builders<br />
showing huge interest in the<br />
scheme. I think it makes perfect<br />
sense for builders to get involved.<br />
The program is open to everyone<br />
and as an industry we can all share in<br />
the information and learning gained,<br />
instead of each individual company<br />
having to figure it out for themselves<br />
through a process of trial and error.<br />
I’ve been in the building industry<br />
for my whole working career and I<br />
can honestly say I have learnt more<br />
in the last two years through my<br />
involvement with Best Home than<br />
I have in the previous ten years. Just<br />
imagine if we can all share in our<br />
learnings how much the industry will<br />
improve.”<br />
In regard to reducing waste<br />
to landfill, what have you<br />
achieved?<br />
“The average weight of waste sent<br />
to landfill from a new build in New<br />
Zealand is around 5000kg. The Best<br />
Home in Havelock North created<br />
2829 kg of waste. 95 percent of<br />
this was diverted for recycling with<br />
a meagre 133kg sent to landfill!<br />
We are incredibly proud of this<br />
achievement, which shows a real<br />
commitment by our whole team.”<br />
What were the key<br />
challenges in achieving this?<br />
“In the first instance it was really<br />
just recognising the enormous scale<br />
of what was being thrown away, it<br />
was actually pretty scary. We found<br />
that getting our team engaged with<br />
waste minimisation was relatively<br />
easy; it was really just about making<br />
a commitment, increasing the<br />
knowledge of those on site and<br />
putting procedures in place to<br />
support them.”<br />
Did it cost you a lot to divert<br />
the waste from landfill?<br />
“Actually the costs were negligible,<br />
especially when compared to the<br />
money we saved on disposal fees.<br />
I’m sure that it’s something everyone<br />
would do if they knew how.”<br />
Best Home is a registered trademark<br />
owned by Hastings District Council.<br />
For further information go to www.<br />
besthome.org.nz. For more information<br />
on Horvarth Homes visit www.<br />
horvarthhomes.co.nz.<br />
18
VALUING OUR<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
ENTERPRISES<br />
By Sue Coutts, Manager, Wanaka Wastebusters<br />
Every summer thousands of<br />
holiday makers visit local<br />
community recycling centres<br />
like Xtreme Waste in Raglan, and<br />
Wanaka Wastebusters. So what is<br />
it that pulls them back year after<br />
year, when they could be surfing the<br />
breaks or boating on the lakes?<br />
The feedback community recyclers<br />
get from locals and visitors is<br />
overwhelmingly positive. Here is<br />
what they tell us:<br />
• they love knowing that their<br />
used goods will be passed on<br />
to someone who needs and<br />
appreciates them;<br />
• they feel confident that their<br />
recycling will end up as recycled<br />
content in new products;<br />
• they get satisfying answers to<br />
their tricky questions about how<br />
to reduce, reuse and recycle<br />
more effectively<br />
• they find solutions for their<br />
hard to handle products like<br />
polystyrene and e-waste;<br />
• and of course everyone loves<br />
finding a bargain that they know<br />
won’t cost the earth.<br />
First time visitors typically get<br />
dragged along by local friends<br />
or relations, who have convinced<br />
them it will be a lot more exciting<br />
than they expect. After that they<br />
find their own way back. One of<br />
the most common comments from<br />
visitors is “I wish we had something<br />
like this in our town’. Our customers<br />
totally get the benefits of dealing<br />
with community recyclers.<br />
Some councils do too. Central<br />
MAR 2013 \ 19
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Otago District Council made a<br />
courageous choice last year to<br />
stick with their community recycler<br />
even though they might have got<br />
cheaper recycling by shifting to a<br />
straight commercial relationship.<br />
They weighed up their options and<br />
realised they would probably end<br />
up paying more for all the ‘add<br />
on’ services they got from their<br />
community recycler if they made<br />
the switch. This reflects the debates<br />
in the United Kingdom about<br />
the long term costs of switching<br />
operators in order to go with a<br />
provider that offers apparently the<br />
same service, for a cheaper price.<br />
Maybe some deals do just turn out<br />
to be too good to be true.<br />
So how could more councils<br />
benefit from working with<br />
community recycling organisations?<br />
Making it easy<br />
and fun<br />
In towns like Raglan and Wanaka,<br />
recycling is the norm. Residents<br />
walk the talk. 90 percent of Raglan’s<br />
businesses recycle. Locals and<br />
visitors use the Love NZ bins.<br />
One regular visitor says he always<br />
recycles in Wanaka because ‘that’s<br />
just what people do here’ however<br />
he doesn’t bother to recycle in his<br />
home town.<br />
Doing the ‘right thing’ is tied<br />
into both community pride and the<br />
brand value of these towns tourist<br />
based economies. Community<br />
recyclers turn global challenges<br />
like overconsumption and resource<br />
depletion into opportunities.<br />
Visitors and customers go away<br />
buzzing because they feel the little<br />
things they do every day really can<br />
help make a difference.<br />
Councils who work closely with<br />
community recyclers understand how<br />
powerful face to face connection<br />
and positive role models can be in<br />
changing people’s behaviour.<br />
Ambitious goals<br />
Community recyclers work hard to<br />
make their communities healthy,<br />
wealthy and wise. Local councils are<br />
looking for very similar outcomes.<br />
Both community recyclers and<br />
councils have the social, economic<br />
and environmental well-being of their<br />
people and their places at heart.<br />
Community recyclers use zero<br />
waste methodology to deliver<br />
waste reduction, resource efficiency<br />
and local economic development.<br />
Xtreme Waste began in 2000 with<br />
the goal of working towards zero<br />
waste. A lot of councils around<br />
the country set off down the zero<br />
waste path at about the same<br />
time. Xtreme Waste has already<br />
achieved a 75 percent diversion<br />
rate for their community. Very<br />
few of the New Zealand councils<br />
who set themselves the goal of<br />
working ‘towards zero waste and<br />
a sustainable district’ have come<br />
anywhere close to that.<br />
Building local<br />
economies<br />
Community recyclers helped<br />
pioneer household and SME<br />
recycling in New Zealand.<br />
When councils and commercial<br />
operators weren’t willing or able<br />
Intelligent Handling Solutions<br />
20
DISPOSAL<br />
SPECIALISTS<br />
to deliver recycling services for<br />
their communities they started up<br />
recycling centres, collections and<br />
reuse shops to meet those needs. In<br />
the process they created meaningful<br />
jobs and training opportunities,<br />
turned wasted resources into wages<br />
and products and supported local<br />
economic development.<br />
Xtreme Waste employs 25<br />
people; in a town of 4000 that’s<br />
significant. CBEC Kaitaia has about<br />
70 staff. Research has shown that<br />
community recyclers put 80 cents<br />
out of every dollar they receive<br />
straight back into their local<br />
economy. Councils and businesses<br />
work hard to bring money into their<br />
districts. It makes sense to spend<br />
those hard earned dollars with an<br />
organisation that is going to send<br />
their communities cash around<br />
at least one more time, before it<br />
heads out to the Australian banks.<br />
New ideas<br />
Community recyclers are willing<br />
to tackle the big issues like<br />
e-waste, which has been in New<br />
Zealand’s too hard basket for a<br />
fair while now. Working with a<br />
private New Zealand company,<br />
community recyclers have helped<br />
build a nationwide network of take<br />
back depots for televisions and<br />
other electronic waste. A number<br />
of councils have taken up the<br />
opportunity to become involved<br />
with the RCN e-Cycle network.<br />
They now have the infrastructure in<br />
place to add on new initiatives and<br />
programmes (like TV take back) as<br />
these come on stream.<br />
Drawing people in<br />
Community recyclers encourage,<br />
support and motivate people<br />
to do practical things that make<br />
a difference. Started by local<br />
communities with shared interests<br />
they have built on this model to<br />
find new ways of engaging people.<br />
The Para Kore marae recycling<br />
programme developed in the<br />
Waikato, has a strong base in the<br />
Maori perspective. Hands on,<br />
peer to peer learning processes<br />
are used to build understanding<br />
and practical skills, so marae<br />
can reduce, reuse and recycle<br />
effectively while they host hundreds<br />
of thousands of visitors each year.<br />
Here to stay<br />
Community recyclers are in it for the<br />
long haul. They are willing to work<br />
on the economic margins where they<br />
can see that longer term economic<br />
benefits will flow from short term<br />
investments in time, energy and<br />
resources. Training opportunities,<br />
local jobs and a safe, inclusive<br />
community are valued more highly<br />
than the quick buck. Community<br />
recyclers share your goals. The best<br />
reason to work with them is that they<br />
want to solve your waste problems<br />
rather than manage them.<br />
Sue Coutts has managed Wanaka Wastebusters<br />
since 2002 and has been actively involved with the<br />
development of the Community Recycling Network<br />
since 2003.<br />
Photos by Simon Williams<br />
OXIDISING<br />
AGENT<br />
5.1<br />
CORROSIVE<br />
FLAMMABLE SOLID<br />
4<br />
SPONTANEOUSLY<br />
COMBUSTIBLE<br />
MISCELLANEOUS<br />
DANGEROUS<br />
GOODS<br />
9<br />
INFECTIOUS SUBSTANCE<br />
in case of damage or leakage<br />
immediately notify public<br />
health authority<br />
TOXIC<br />
FLAMMABLE<br />
LIQUID<br />
CALL US - Nationwide Branch Network<br />
0800 835 645<br />
4<br />
DANGEROUS<br />
WHEN WET<br />
4<br />
NON-FLAMMABLE<br />
NON-TOXIC<br />
GAS<br />
2<br />
6<br />
6<br />
RADIOACTIVE<br />
3<br />
ADVICE COLLECTION DISPOSAL
What is the<br />
CoPTTM?<br />
By Paul Evans, CEO WasteMINZ<br />
On 1 November the New Zealand<br />
Transport Agency (NZTA)<br />
published the 4th edition of the<br />
Code of practice for temporary<br />
traffic management (CoPTTM).<br />
The CoPTTM acts as a standard<br />
reference for all temporary traffic<br />
management on state highways<br />
and local roads. It includes levels<br />
of temporary traffic management,<br />
signs and forms used, and a series of<br />
sample traffic management plans.<br />
In particular, Section D7.3;<br />
which covers kerbside collection<br />
activities, will affect a broad range<br />
of WasteMINZ members.<br />
The effective date for<br />
compliance with all vehicle<br />
and driver requirements in this<br />
section was originally specified<br />
as 1 January 2013. We felt this<br />
was an unrealistic timeframe for<br />
WasteMINZ members given the<br />
significant work required to comply<br />
with the code. We are pleased<br />
to announce that at the request<br />
of WasteMINZ and a number<br />
of other parties, the NZTA has<br />
now extended this deadline to<br />
1 April 2013.<br />
Changes<br />
The table below shows a quick<br />
summary of some of the major<br />
differences between versions<br />
three and four of the CoPTTM.<br />
For more detail please see this<br />
handy comparison developed by<br />
Brent Sutton, General Manager<br />
of KiwiCare Waste Services<br />
and a member of WasteMINZ<br />
Health and Safety Sector Group<br />
Steering Committee http://bit.ly/<br />
CodeofPractice.<br />
22
TOPIC<br />
Beacons<br />
Signage<br />
Other Devices<br />
Briefing and<br />
Training<br />
KEY CHANGES<br />
• All vehicles must have an operational rear-mounted camera with an<br />
active monitor in the cab for the driver.<br />
• All vehicles must have an audible operating reversing warning buzzer.<br />
• Each vehicle must have installed three amber beacons, one at the front,<br />
two at the rear.<br />
• The vehicle’s hazard warning lights must not be used as amber<br />
beacons.<br />
• All work vehicles must have a TV4 (TW-34) PASS WITH CARE SIGN<br />
(meet Traffic Control Devices 2004 rule).<br />
• All vehicles must display a reflective panel (red/white) across the rear of<br />
the vehicle.<br />
• All drivers must be trained as a Waste Collection Traffic Leader (WCTL).<br />
• All existing drivers must obtain WCTL by 1 April 2013.<br />
• All new drivers must obtain WCTL within four months of<br />
commencement of employment.<br />
• All mobile work teams must be led by a WCTL.<br />
• WCTL training to be renewed every three years.<br />
• STMS must brief WCTL and all other staff in activity once every six<br />
months.<br />
• WCTL provides safety briefing to crew each day before activity<br />
commences.<br />
Resources • All TMPs must be prepared by STMS and reviewed yearly.<br />
• One STMS per company. If company has multiple branches additional<br />
STMS may be required.<br />
• The STMS is not required to be within 30 minutes of given site, but<br />
must respond to a call within 30 minutes.<br />
For enquiries about Temporary Traffic Management qualification and<br />
CoPTTM courses, please email copttm.quals@nzta.govt.nz.<br />
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What’s happening in the<br />
world of<br />
organic<br />
waste?<br />
By George Fietje, Business Development Manager, Living Earth<br />
I’ve been involved<br />
in the organics<br />
and composting<br />
industry for a long<br />
time now, and I<br />
always do my best<br />
to keep abreast of<br />
what’s happening<br />
around the world.<br />
What is the latest<br />
and greatest<br />
technology?<br />
What are the<br />
drivers? What are<br />
the operational<br />
issues they face?<br />
Usually this is achieved using online<br />
research and emailing overseas<br />
colleagues. However the best way to<br />
find out about latest developments<br />
is to simply get on a plane and see<br />
things first-hand. And that is exactly<br />
what I did.<br />
With an ever increasing shift<br />
in New Zealand to divert organic<br />
waste away from landfill to<br />
meet community expectations<br />
and fulfil Waste Management and<br />
Minimisation Plan aspirations, and<br />
the significant opportunity this<br />
presents for our industry, it was time<br />
to undertake a study tour to see<br />
how New Zealand compares and to<br />
find out what we can learn from our<br />
progressive overseas colleagues.<br />
The main focus of the tour was to<br />
look at organic waste collection and<br />
processing technologies, but it also<br />
provided an opportunity to identify<br />
what was working well, what wasn’t,<br />
and what companies would change if<br />
they had their time again. In addition,<br />
I explored areas such as household<br />
behaviour, contamination level,<br />
enforcement, education and how<br />
to strike the right balance between<br />
these equally important factors.<br />
During the seven week tour, I<br />
visited 20 processing facilities in<br />
the USA, Canada, Italy, Germany,<br />
UK and Singapore, covering ten<br />
different types of technologies.<br />
To start with, I am incredibly<br />
grateful for the openness and<br />
candidness of those who shared<br />
their knowledge and experiences<br />
with me. I was fortunate to spend<br />
time with the team from WRAP<br />
in the United Kingdom, and in<br />
particular WRAP’s Director of<br />
Design and Waste Prevention, Dr<br />
Richard Swannell, who many of<br />
INDUSTRIES GROUP (NZ) LTD<br />
> Transpacific is New Zealand’s largest and most comprehensive industrial and<br />
environmental services, recycling and residual waste management company.<br />
Did you know that waste that is recovered, recycled and<br />
beneficially used will assist in reducing your ETS costs?<br />
Transpacific can work with you to look at ways to improve your recovery and<br />
recycling levels.<br />
For more information phone 0800 473 387<br />
24
you would have seen present via<br />
video conference at the WasteMINZ<br />
Conference in October. (Incidentally,<br />
if you ever get the chance, I highly<br />
recommend taking up any offer by<br />
Dr Swannell to take you for a tour of<br />
Oxford University followed by an ale<br />
at the very old ‘Turf Tavern’.)<br />
I met with Territorial<br />
Authorities (TA) to understand the<br />
underlying rationale, design and<br />
implementation of their organic<br />
programmes as well as progress<br />
they had made against reduction<br />
targets. This included getting out<br />
on the streets during collections to<br />
inspect the quality and quantity of<br />
material and presentation rates.<br />
So, what were my key learnings?<br />
• Firstly, there is a no single silver<br />
bullet solution that suits all<br />
applications. Each TA developed<br />
its own unique solution that<br />
reflected the local economics,<br />
community and political<br />
expectations and the desired<br />
environmental outcomes. So if<br />
you’re exploring the potential<br />
for organic collections and<br />
processing, it’s not as easy as<br />
copying a successful model from<br />
somewhere else.<br />
• When it comes to food waste,<br />
householder participation is the<br />
key and to get them on board<br />
we need to remove, or at very<br />
least reduce, the ‘yuck factor’<br />
associated with handling food<br />
waste in the kitchen. We need to<br />
make this more attractive than<br />
using the rubbish bin. This might<br />
be through something as simple<br />
as the use of kitchen caddy liners<br />
combined with weekly food<br />
waste collections.<br />
• Everywhere I went, compostable<br />
kitchen caddy liners were<br />
considered expensive for house<br />
holders to use relative to the<br />
‘free’ supermarket bags and<br />
this was seen as a significant<br />
barrier to participation. So you<br />
really have to do a thorough<br />
cost-benefit analysis of this and<br />
weigh it up against the various<br />
alternatives (and their related<br />
processing costs).<br />
• Undertaking up-front<br />
behavioural studies to fully<br />
understand the needs and likely<br />
responses from different cultures<br />
and other demographics is an<br />
essential exercise and will help<br />
you not only reduce the risk<br />
but also increase householder<br />
participation. Findings from<br />
these studies should be<br />
combined with pilot trials to<br />
further minimise the risk profile.<br />
• Controlling odours is one of<br />
the biggest issues for organic<br />
material processing and resulted<br />
in a number of plants needing to<br />
undergo major upgrades post<br />
construction. However the fully<br />
enclosed processing facilities<br />
(such as a number of anaerobic<br />
digestion and composting<br />
facilities I visited) had very few<br />
odour issues. So selecting the<br />
correct technology for your<br />
community may cost more in<br />
the initial phases, but it will pay<br />
dividends in the long-term.<br />
It’s incredibly hard to cram seven<br />
weeks of intensive learning into 700<br />
words and there’s so much more<br />
I’d love to share. Suffice to say, that<br />
after the tour my opinions have<br />
changed markedly on a range of<br />
things: from specific technologies<br />
to the importance of knowing your<br />
community, effectively engaging<br />
with them and enforcing the rules.<br />
So if you are exploring the potential<br />
for organic material diversion in your<br />
community, I would be happy to<br />
discuss my findings with you.<br />
George is the Business Development Manager<br />
for Living Earth Limited (LEL) and has nearly 30<br />
years’ experience in research and development<br />
on beneficial use of organic waste into compost<br />
and other growing media products. George has<br />
been with Living Earth since it was established in<br />
1994 and has been instrumental in the construction<br />
and operation of LEL’s Auckland, Wellington and<br />
Christchurch composting plants. George can be<br />
contacted at gfietje@livingearth.co.nz<br />
mar 2013 \ WWW.WASTEMINZ.ORG.NZ \ 25
council<br />
news<br />
timaru<br />
hurunui<br />
Timaru District Council has voted to<br />
continue the public place recycling<br />
initiated as a trial at Caroline<br />
Bay. The system has been well<br />
received by the public and sorting<br />
has been consistent with minimal<br />
contamination. The public place<br />
infrastructure at the Bay will be<br />
extended this year and further public<br />
place recycling will be progressively<br />
put in place throughout the District<br />
using waste levy funding.<br />
Ruth Clarke, Senior Waste Management<br />
Officer, Timaru District Council<br />
In preparation for the relocation of<br />
its Amberley transfer station to its<br />
new Grays Road site, the Hurunui<br />
District Council has decided:<br />
• The transfer station part of the<br />
Carters Road operation will close<br />
in February 2013. From that date<br />
the pick-up site will be from<br />
Grays Rd.<br />
• Land use consent for the Grays<br />
Rd transfer station has been<br />
granted. At this stage only the<br />
transfer station itself plus a kiosk<br />
will be built. The council will<br />
recruit one part-time employee<br />
to manage the weighbridge, and<br />
employ a contractor to operate<br />
the compactors.<br />
• The council is applying for<br />
resource consent to leave<br />
North Canterbury Community<br />
Resource’s recycling facility at 81<br />
Carters Rd until February 2014.<br />
The re-use store would remain<br />
and be operated as at present<br />
until February 2014.<br />
• The NCCR contract with the<br />
council to collect and sort<br />
domestic green recycling<br />
bags from the kerbside will be<br />
extended to February 2014 which<br />
is the finite extent of the 3+1+1<br />
year term.<br />
• Waste Control New Zealand’s<br />
contract for the collection and<br />
transport of “black” and “green”<br />
bags from Hanmer Springs will<br />
be extended 4 months into the<br />
fourth year of the term, until<br />
February 2014, to bring the<br />
expiry date in line with the other<br />
contracts.<br />
• Five year contracts for the<br />
collection of waste and<br />
recyclables from the kerbsides<br />
of all District townships will be<br />
publicly tendered in 2013, with a<br />
commencement date of February<br />
2014. The contracts will include<br />
the disposal of residual (black<br />
bag) waste and also the disposal<br />
of recyclables. The contractor<br />
must divert the recyclables away<br />
from landfill but may choose to<br />
transport them unsorted out of<br />
the district or sort them here. If<br />
sorting them here, the contractor<br />
will have to provide the buildings<br />
and plant for that operation at his<br />
own expense. The Council may<br />
make consented land available<br />
at Grays Road for lease to the<br />
successful contractor(s), if they<br />
wish to construct a building for<br />
this purpose.<br />
• The NZ Recovery/Container<br />
Waste contract to transport<br />
“dry waste” containers back<br />
to Christchurch for sorting will<br />
continue until the expiry of its<br />
five year term to November<br />
2015 (unless both parties are<br />
willing to negotiate a shorter<br />
term to bring the contract in line<br />
with the others’ February 2014<br />
anniversary).<br />
Hurunui District Council media release<br />
Do you have council news to share?<br />
These are your pages – email Nic at nic@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
26
QUEENSTOWN<br />
LAKES<br />
The Queenstown Lakes District<br />
Council and Central Otago District<br />
Council are to partner with two<br />
national agencies to investigate the<br />
uses of wood bio-waste for heating<br />
commercial buildings.<br />
The two councils, the Energy<br />
Efficiency and Conservation<br />
Authority (EECA) and the<br />
Department of Conservation<br />
(DoC) are pooling resources for<br />
a feasibility study around the<br />
collection and processing of waste<br />
wood into pellets or wood chips<br />
locally for the local market.<br />
Queenstown Lakes District<br />
Council’s district forester Briana<br />
Pringle said the product was used in<br />
bio-waste burners which were clean<br />
and highly efficient but currently<br />
users had to bring in bio-fuel from<br />
out-of-town. “We have plenty<br />
of raw material here like wilding<br />
pines, we need to find out if it will<br />
be economical to turn them into a<br />
fuel source and if so, will there be<br />
demand for what is produced?” Ms<br />
Pringle said.<br />
As well as offering advantages<br />
in terms of energy efficiency and<br />
cleanness, bio-waste was potentially<br />
cheaper than coal and oil and could<br />
also offer another option in an<br />
area which has been heavily reliant<br />
on electricity and LPG. Bio-waste<br />
pellet and chip burners also met<br />
the criteria of the Otago Regional<br />
Council’s Air Plan.<br />
Research for the study is already<br />
underway with Ahika Consulting<br />
and the Otago Polytechnic Centre<br />
for Sustainable Practice surveying<br />
local schools and businesses on<br />
their current energy uses and the<br />
potential for them to convert to<br />
wood energy in future. A community<br />
meeting for interested parties would<br />
also be held sometime in February.<br />
Queenstown Lakes District Council media<br />
release<br />
MARLBOROUGH<br />
Marlborough District Council is<br />
proposing to extend the area of<br />
service for its kerbside refuse and<br />
recycling collection. This expansion<br />
of service is designed to increase the<br />
amount of material diverted away<br />
from landfill. Submissions closed on<br />
1 February 2013.<br />
The key aims of this service<br />
expansion are to deliver the<br />
kerbside collection service to up<br />
to a further 400 homes on the<br />
edge of Blenheim, divert up to<br />
52 tonnes of material away from<br />
landfill, improve the efficiency of<br />
collecting recycling materials and<br />
to promote behaviour change at an<br />
individual and community level. The<br />
proposed service would commence<br />
on 1 July 2013.<br />
Marlborough District Council website<br />
PALMERSTON NORTH<br />
UPPER HUTT<br />
On 4 February 2013, Upper Hutt<br />
City Council’s kerbside recycling<br />
collection service changed from a<br />
rates-funded plastic bag service to<br />
a privately operated wheelie bin<br />
service managed through a council<br />
contract.<br />
The new contractor wheelie bin<br />
service is a fortnightly collection,<br />
however, glass ‘only’ is collected<br />
from a 45 litre crate on one week and<br />
paper, plastics and metals (tins/cans)<br />
are collected from a 140 litre wheelie<br />
bin on the alternate week. This<br />
recycling change does not change<br />
the existing rubbish bag collection<br />
service for residential customers.<br />
Upper Hutt City Council media release<br />
Wayne Gray of Palmerston North City Council sorting glass with the new low entry<br />
vehicle glass truck<br />
Palmerston North City Council has introduced four new collection vehicles to its<br />
rubbish and recycling kerbside collection fleet. The new vehicles replace some of<br />
the existing fleet and will reduce the total fleet size. The new additions comprise of<br />
two MANCO purpose built glass collection vehicles and two MANCO purpose built<br />
rubbish collection vehicles.<br />
It is anticipated that the new glass collection vehicles will dramatically improve the<br />
recycling efficiency of the council’s kerbside glass collection to 90 percent recovery<br />
of glass collected. The new glass trucks allow the kerbside colour sort of glass by<br />
a single operator. All the new trucks are low entry vehicles, with left hand drive<br />
operation during collection, and operated by a single operator.<br />
Natasha Simmons, Rubbish & Recycling Asset Engineer, Palmerston North City Council<br />
mar 2013 \ WWW.WASTEMINZ.ORG.NZ \ 27
sector groups<br />
Nic Quilty<br />
Sector Group Coordinator<br />
nic@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
The year is heating up, with<br />
meetings and teleconferences<br />
set up for a number of the sector<br />
groups. Some groups will be<br />
discussing current projects, most of<br />
them in their inception, and others<br />
will be identifying projects and<br />
determining what their work plans<br />
will be for the year.<br />
Contaminated<br />
Land Management<br />
The NES and Contaminated Land<br />
Fundamentals workshops were very<br />
successful with high attendance<br />
numbers. Panel discussions were<br />
held at both workshops and the<br />
minutes for these were distributed<br />
at the end of last year. They are also<br />
available on our website at bit.ly/<br />
NESandSQEP.<br />
Last year, the NES Working<br />
Group developed a flow chart to<br />
stimulate discussion on what a<br />
SQEP system could look like. In<br />
order to progress the flow chart,<br />
the NES working group forwarded<br />
out a survey to stakeholders. Thank<br />
you to everyone who responded.<br />
The results will be discussed with<br />
the working group once a meeting<br />
date has been finalised.<br />
The steering committee’s first<br />
meeting of the year will be held on<br />
7 March.<br />
Health & Safety<br />
Funding has been secured to<br />
develop parts three and four of<br />
the Health and Safety Guidelines:<br />
for the Solid Waste and Resource<br />
Recovery Sector; resource recovery<br />
parks, material recovery facilities<br />
and transfer stations. WasteMINZ<br />
has contributed funding from its<br />
reserves, with the balance funded by<br />
Onyx Group, Smart Environmental,<br />
REMONDIS New Zealand,<br />
EnviroWaste Services and the<br />
Accident Compensation Corporation.<br />
Thank you to those industry players<br />
for supporting this project. Burke<br />
Consulting and First Principles for<br />
Safety have now been appointed to<br />
develop the guidelines.<br />
The steering committee met on<br />
22 February, where the guidelines<br />
were discussed and a work plan for<br />
the year was developed.<br />
Landfill &<br />
Residual Waste<br />
A very useful workshop was held<br />
at the WasteMINZ conference to<br />
give participants an opportunity<br />
to provide input into an integrated<br />
technical guideline document for<br />
the disposal to land of residual<br />
waste and other materials. The<br />
guidelines’ project team met on 13<br />
February to discuss outlines for the<br />
proposed sections of the guidelines.<br />
A workshop will be held at the midyear<br />
roundup where feedback will<br />
be provided and progress reported.<br />
Liquid &<br />
Hazardous Waste<br />
An election was held to fill two<br />
vacancies on the Liquid and<br />
Hazardous Waste Operators<br />
Certification Council late last year.<br />
The elected Council members were<br />
announced at the Council’s Annual<br />
General Meeting, which was held<br />
on 5 December 2012. The Council<br />
now comprises of Bruce Holland,<br />
Parkinson & Holland (chair); Wayne<br />
Plummer, EnviroWaste Services<br />
(deputy chair); Graham Farrelly,<br />
Transpacific Industries Group (NZ);<br />
Bruce Bain, Bain Liquids Disposal;<br />
Grant Marshall, Wasteaway<br />
South and John Matangi, JB’s<br />
Environmental.<br />
The Council will meet in the<br />
next six weeks.<br />
TA Forum<br />
At the recent TA Forum, held at the<br />
WasteMINZ conference, each TA<br />
gave a brief outline of their current<br />
projects and their number one issue.<br />
The TA Forum teleconferencing<br />
group will discuss these at their next<br />
teleconference on 12 March. This<br />
will determine where assistance is<br />
needed and what the forum’s focus<br />
needs to be this year.<br />
Organic Materials<br />
The mid-year roundup will feature<br />
a stream dedicated to organic<br />
materials, where participants will<br />
look at the issues and opportunities<br />
for organic materials, the key drivers<br />
for diversion and evaluate the<br />
various options available.<br />
The steering committee will be<br />
formalised very shortly, which will<br />
enable the sector group to develop<br />
its work plan.<br />
28
International Conference on Solid Waste<br />
Technology and Management<br />
10-13 march<br />
www.solid-waste.org/2013-conference<br />
Philadelphia, PA, USA.<br />
The Business of Sustainable Packaging<br />
21 march<br />
www.packaging.org.nz/index.php/resources/education/<br />
one-day-seminar/<br />
Auckland.<br />
BioCycle West Coast Conference<br />
Organics Management<br />
8-11april<br />
www.biocyclewestcoast.com<br />
San Diego, California, USA.<br />
Information and tools to put Sustainable Waste<br />
Management Solutions into action<br />
Waste 2013<br />
30 april - 2 may<br />
www.impactenviro.com.au/waste2013<br />
Coffs Harbour, Australia.<br />
WasteMINZ Mid-Year Roundup<br />
Reducing the Waste in Waste<br />
16-17 may<br />
www.wasteminz.org.nz<br />
Mac's Function Centre, 4 Taranaki St, Wellington.<br />
To register email info@wasteminz.org.nz<br />
ISWA Beacon & 5th Australian Landfill<br />
& Transfer Stations Conference<br />
7-9 august CALL FOR ABSTRACTS<br />
www.wmaa.asn.au<br />
Jupiters, Gold Coast, Queensland.<br />
Sardinia 2013: Waste management<br />
and landfill symposium<br />
30 september - 4 october<br />
www.sardiniasymposium.it<br />
Italy.<br />
ISWA World Congress<br />
7-11 NOVEMBER<br />
www.iswa2013.org<br />
Vienna, Austria.<br />
Waste Expo<br />
9-10 October<br />
www.wasteexpo.com.au<br />
Melbourne, Australia.<br />
WasteMINZ Annual Conference & Expo 2013<br />
22-24 october<br />
www.wasteminz.org.nz<br />
Energy Events Centre, Rotorua<br />
Eco Expo Asia<br />
Environmental Protection<br />
28-31 October<br />
www.ecoexpoasia.com<br />
Hong Kong.<br />
Reinventing how waste<br />
collection businesses work.<br />
NZ +64 9889 8987<br />
AUS +61 2 9499 6222<br />
info@wastedge.com<br />
www.wastedge.com<br />
Ray Austen 027 4496 415<br />
General Manager<br />
18 Taratoa Street, Tauranga 3112, New Zealand<br />
T +64 7 578 3935 F +64 7 571 2521 Toll Free 0800 868 473<br />
E ray@carbonrecovery.co.nz W www.carbonrecovery.co.nz<br />
Ian Maddaford<br />
General Manager / Export Manager<br />
Transpacific Recycling<br />
52-58 Austin Street, Onekawa, Napier 4110<br />
PO Box 3137, Napier 4142<br />
imaddaford@transpac.co.nz<br />
Direct: +64 6 843 1853<br />
Phone:+64 6 843 3103<br />
Fax: +64 6 843 3102<br />
Mobile: +64 27 579 3899<br />
30
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