Kāpiti Coast District Council has adopted a plan to reduce waste in our district and the Wellington region over the next six years.

Council unanimously adopted the Wellington Region Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2023-2029 (WMMP) at its final meeting of the year yesterday. The updated plan sets out a pathway for everyone in the region to work together to care for our resources, and create less waste and become a greater place to call home.

The eight councils in our region (Masterton, Carterton, South Wairarapa, Upper Hutt, Hutt City, Wellington, Porirua, and Kāpiti Coast) developed the plan together to ensure a consistent regional approach to reducing waste. The plan is reviewed every six years as part of a legal requirement under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. Our variable annual waste levy funding from the government (of approximately $500,000) relies on Council meeting this requirement.

The plan was consulted with our community in August, then recommended for adoption by the Wellington Region Waste Management and Minimisation Joint Committee in early December. It must be adopted by each council before it is finalised.

Councillor Martin Halliday has been representing Kāpiti on the joint committee.

Cr Halliday commended the plan, saying it had been great to see councils taking a unified approach to dealing with rubbish and recycling across the region.

“Minimising waste is important work that moves us towards a healthier environment and reduces greenhouse gas emissions to help mitigate climate change, while making our region a great place to live, play and work.”

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

Under the regional plan, each council has its own local action plan. Kāpiti Coast District Council’s local action plan outlines 17 actions. The focus is on moving away from simply managing waste to reducing, recycling, reusing, repairing, and repurposing materials.

Cr Halliday noted the importance of us all taking ownership of our own ‘environmental footprint’ as we tackle this important issue.

“It’s no longer ok to simply ‘consume and dump’,” Cr Halliday said. “We want to help our district shift to a low carbon way of life. This includes applying circular economy principles where we use our resources more thoughtfully, both to care for the environment and reduce ratepayer waste disposal costs by repurposing materials for valuable uses elsewhere.”

Read about the Wellington Region Waste Management and Minimisation Plan and Kāpiti Coast’s local action plan at www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/wmmp.

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