Porirua City Council has approved a plan to reduce waste in our city and the Wellington region over the next six years.

At their meeting on 14 December, Council unanimously agreed to adopt the Wellington Region Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2023-2029 (WMMP). This plan creates a pathway for everyone in the region to work together to care for our resources - for less waste and a greater place.

All eight councils in the Wellington region - Masterton, Carterton, South Wairarapa, Upper Hutt, Hutt City, Wellington, Porirua and Kāpiti Coast - came together to develop this plan, which is reviewed every six years as part of a legal requirement under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.

The plan was recommended for adoption by the Wellington Region Waste Management and Minimisation Joint Committee (Joint Committee) with representatives from all councils in early December, and now has to be adopted by each individual council before it is finalised.

Councillor Geoff Hayward represents Porirua City Council on the Joint Committee, and says the committee recognised the diversity and different needs of the residents represented across the region.

"But we are united in wanting to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in our landfills."

He says this plan will make an impact on that.

Regional targets in the WMMP include reducing the total amount of material going to landfill by 10 per cent by 2027 and by 30 per cent by 2030.

Some region-wide goals to achieve these targets include:

- Ensuring the availability of construction and demolition waste processing and recovery by 2026

- Providing organic processing systems by 2029

- Adding five new resource recovery locations to the existing network by 2030.

Consultation on the WMMP took place in August. There were close to 200 submissions on the plan from across the region, including written and oral submissions from individuals and groups in Porirua.

Cr Hayward says views from Porirua submitters have been reflected in the final plan.

Porirua City Council’s local action plan includes 31 actions designed to help the city shift away from just managing waste and instead focusing more on reducing, reusing, and recycling. Some of these actions will be achieved by partnering with other councils in the region.

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker says this kind of approach to waste reduction will require a change in how people think about waste.

"Our current system of using something once, then throwing it away, is increasingly being recognised as a significant contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and this needs to change."

The targets in the WMMP align with the Government’s Te rautaki para|Waste Strategy. They have been spread over the six-year life of the WMMP to enable the councils to manage costs over a longer period while the necessary changes to the region are embedded to reduce waste.

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