What should our reuse, recycle and disposal future look like?

That’s the question that South Taranaki, Stratford and New Plymouth district councils are asking the community as we prepare a new Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP) for the region.

“We’ve currently got a vision of Zero Waste to landfill by 2040,” says NPDC Resource Recovery Manager Kimberley Hope. “Should we keep this timeframe? Does it need changing? And what developments should we invest in to help us get there?”

As a result of the first WMMP in 2017, bins were brought in for the residential kerbside rubbish, mixed recycling across the region; food scrap collections were rolled out across New Plymouth district, the first stage of The Junction was built; the Colson Road Landfill was closed, and landfill waste was instead trucked to Bonny Glen Landfill; and various community-based activities were supported through the Zero Waste Fund.

Also, planning is well underway for a recycling centre for commercial/industrial materials on Colson Road, New Plymouth and regionally we are planning on building a facility or facilities to locally process and re-purpose organic waste material.

To help the three councils develop a new WMMP next year, a discussion document has just been released for public feedback.

Kimberley says this is a good opportunity for all Taranaki residents to help shape our future Zero Waste efforts, vision and goals.

“Since the first management plan was released in 2017, awareness has grown about the value of the materials we used to just throw away to the landfill, and how important it is to keep plastics and other harmful materials out of the wider environment. I’m certain that our community will have really useful ideas to share about what we should focus on to reach Zero Waste,” she says.

More information, discussion document and feedback form available on the website ZeroWasteTaranaki.org.nz/NextSixYears. Information and feedback forms also at council offices and libraries across the region. 
Feedback closes on Monday 7 November.

FAST FACTS

• In 2021/22, Taranaki sent 58,967 tonnes of waste to the landfill, and recycled 8000 tonnes of mixed recycling. This is down 1,000 tonnes in 2016.
• In 2021/22, the region sent 3,000 tonnes of organic material (food scraps and green waste) for recycling from the kerbside.
• Since the first WMMP was established in 2017, our region’s waste per capita has dropped by 31%, from 0.47 tonnes to 0.32 tonnes.
• During the same period our mixed recycling volume has decreased per capita by 6%, from 0.07 tonnes to 0.06 tonnes.

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