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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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