To:	Local Government and Environment Committee Bowen House, Parliament Buildings, WELLINGTON
From:	Central Otago WasteBusters Incorporated P O Box 375 Alexandra PH: 03 4489948 [email protected]
Date:	29th August 2006
Submission:	To the Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill
Statement:	I wish to speak to this submission Will there be any hearings at a centre near us? Clair Higginson Manager Central Otago WasteBusters Inc

About Us
Overview
Economic Instruments
Rural New Zealand and Community Enterprises
Goals of New Zealnd Waste Strategy to be addressed
Part 2 Waste Minimisation Authority
Part 3 Waste Control Authorities
Part 4 Prohibition on disposal of materials
Part 5 Waste disposal levies
Part 6 Extended producer responsibility
Container Deposit Legislation (CDL)
Part 7 Organisational waste minimisation plans
Parts 8 and 9 Public procurement policy and public reporting
Part 1 Comments on preliminary provisons
Appendix 1
 

Central Otago WasteBusters Incorporated is a community enterprise operating in the Central Otago District Council precinct. The organisation partly funded through Council and partly self funded, employs 10 to 15 paid staff and about 100 volunteers. Work carried out includes kerbside recyclables collections in Alexandra, Cromwell and Clyde, commercial and drop off depot collections in these areas as well as Ranfurly, Roxburgh, Oturehua, Omakau and Tarras. Product sorting, processing and marketing is carried out at our resource recovery park in Alexandra. A re-use shop is operated from this base. Our work also includes community and school education in waste minimisation and 'reduce reuse recycle' principles. We work with producers and retailers to find palatable and sound solutions to issues of difficult waste and packaging. A key factor in our operation and the wider community is our ability to offer work and work experience to a wide variety of people from diverse backgrounds.

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Central Otago WasteBusters Inc (COWB) are in total support of the key principles of this Bill and commend it to the house. We see the Bill as a means of measuring and managing progress on the New Zealand Waste Strategy.

Key Principles (as identified in the Bill summary)

• Full social and environmental costs should be taken into account when making decisions about the creation, management and disposal of waste.
• Production and consumption must reflect a cyclical approach, as is seen in natural ecosystems, in order to reduce the rate at which we use energy and resources.
• Manufactured products should be durable, with components that can be reused or recycled, and should be easy to repair, upgrade or modify.
• People need both accurate information and empowering education to participate effectively in creating a Waste Free Aotearoa New Zealand.
• Greater use of appropriate technologies and ongoing innovation are necessary to move from a wasteful society to a creative sustainable society that does more with less for longer.
• Tangata Whenua must be supported both in their role as kaitiaki and in protecting their taonga and tikanga against the negative impact of waste.

Government, citizens and business must work together and show individual leadership and responsibility in implementing the waste reduction hierarchy of reduce, reuse, recycle.

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Economic instruments which will help quantify success in meeting goals of the New Zealand Waste Strategy need to be identified and embedded in the policies and procedures. A range of instuments and their appropriate use is discussed in The Parliamentary Commissioner to the Environment's recent report "Changing Behaviour: Economic Instruments in the Management of Waste."

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Rural and regional areas of New Zealand are faced with two issues - small quantities and large distances (between houses and to market). It is these areas where community enterprises are most likely to be operating. These enterprises, as do CO WasteBusters, usually have a close working relationship with their local council. Further these organisations are often the key groups working for change in their communities.

In country areas like ours, fallout from innappropriate packaging and non recyclables is keenly felt. It is costly for Council and community alike. Buy back schemes, for example for computers, whiteware and mobile phones are not evident. These items often end up in our resource recovery park where we struggle to break them down rather than see them go to the landfill.

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Working towards waste minimisation and the goals of the New Zealand Waste Strategy means each person making changes in his or her behaviour in relation to waste. Change can be achieved by use of broad range of strategies at government, organisation and personal levels.

COWB believes the strategies in the Waste Minimisation Bill will be able to provide measurable outcomes for the the Waste Strategy.

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COWB supports the establishment of a Waste Minimisation Authority.

Representation on the Authority must include consumers, non government organisations and rural New Zealand.

Much of the prescriptive detail in the Bill as proposed should be removed. Policies and procedures should be developed by the proposed Authority. Accountability measures of the Authority's effectiveness must be identified and included in the Authority's annual report.

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COWB supports territorial authorities taking on the role of Waste Control Authorities. COWB supports Waste Control Authorities having waste minimisation and management plans which take into account the waste minimisation hierarchy and its priorities.

COWB believes that local councils will be at different stages of readiness for the changes expected and some will need considerable support.

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COWB supports developing prohibition options on dumping of reusable and recyclable products.

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COWB supports levies on material being sent to landfill

COWB supports part of the levies being used to subsidise businesses to progressively develop waste minimisation plans. Many small to medium businesses already have ad hoc plans. They buy wisely and they organise recycling and arrange for unwanted goods to be taken to the reuse shop. Those businesses which do comply with staged waste minimisation plans and standards should be eligible for a refund of all or part of levies paid.

COWB supports the proposal that the portion of the levy retained by Waste Control Authorities be used for ongoing waste minimisation and appropriate regional and local initiatives.

COWB wishes to ensure funds would be available to community as well as commercial organisations. COWB wishes to ensure funds would be available for less tangible items such as education, community awareness and change management.

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COWB believes that product stewardship programs must be developed, product type by product type. A package of economic measurements and incentives must be developed if product stewardship is to be successful in New Zealand.

The current voluntary arrangements pay no heed to the waste minimisation hierarchy. For example the voluntary packaging accord is not working to reduce use of resources. Use of unrecyclable products in packaging is not controlled.

Extended product stewardship programmes could be introduced progressively. Product types given priority should be the more toxic and more recyclable products: the toxic because they are a hazard to landfill and the more recyclable because they are recyclable. Items include packaging, e-waste, used oil, drink containers, construction and demolition materials…

COWB believes specific consultation needs to be carried out in rural and regional New Zealand in order to address issues specific to these out of city areas.

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COWB support CDL and believe it must be an essential element of the Bill. CDL provides simple solutions to several problems. 1) It does away with litter caused by all the take away drinks. These are the soft drinks, beer, fruit drinks and water bought and consumed away from home, in public areas or at public events. The containers end up in public rubbish bins or worse, on the the roadside. 2) It ensures almost all of these drink containers go to recycling instead of, at present, to the landfill. 3) It provides a small industry which is self funding and which in turn funds community groups which have limited opportunities to generate income. Eg sports clubs return the drink containers gathered at matches and on club nights and use the income for new equipment or their building fund. Other groups could collect from roadsides thus generating income which in other circumstances they may be asking the government for.

COWB believe CDL will make a big impact on reduction of roadside litter in rural areas.

At present CDL occurs in South Australia. Currently the Western Australian Government is looking to introduce it early in 2007. COWB suggest that the introduction of CDL in New Zealand be done as part of the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Arrangements because many drink brands are now part of the Australasian market. It would be cumbersome if there were different labelling requirements for New Zealand, Western Australia and South Australia for container deposits.

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COWB believe that all organisations should actively reduce, reuse and recycle. A waste minimisation plan is one part of this and should be encouraged.

Many small organisations already reduce, reuse and recycle and have ad hoc waste minimisation plans.

Many larger organisations and organisations which export goods will already have waste minimisation requirements from the country of destination of product or from their parent company. Many multinational companies also report on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

The organisation waste minimisation plans should be developed step by step rather than size by size.

Funds from the waste levies should go towards the development of the plans as well as to local councils to assist in development of monitoring and measurement systems.

The Authority should develop procedures and templates for development of plans as well as for measuring their effectiveness.

Organisations which develop and demonstrate effectiveness of plans within a specified timespan should be given a rebate on some of waste disposal levies paid.

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COWB agrees in principle to the concept of public procurement and reporting and wonder how much of this is covered by the governments G3 policy.

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Interpretation
For clarity, several interpretations need to be added or modified.

A definition of waste minimisation and its relation to the waste minimisation hierarchy needs to be included. The inverted triangle is the simplest visualisation of the paradigm change required by each government department, business, community group and individual as the move is made away from 'big hole in the ground' to sensible resource use and recovery. (see COWB waste minimisation model - appendix 1)

The plastic market is very volatile at the moment. The definition of plastics would do better to be more inclusive of types of plastic other than types 1 and 2.

Bioplastics are plastics made from organic matter. Plastic bottles made from bioplastic look like PET and HDPE, although, if included with these types, will cause recycled product to fail. Clear visual identication marks as well as suitable composting procedures need to be identified for bioplastics.

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Waste Management and Achievement
To approach their stated goals, waste management plans use the principles

• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle
• Resource recovery
• Residue disposal

These "5 R" principles form the active Waste Management model, #1, below:

While listing principles in order of preference, this model counteracts by intimating in a visual way that reductions be small and residues be allowed to build up.

In current practice this intimated message is powerfully at play. Waste Management, traditionally, is about large pieces of machinery collecting and placing unwanted stuff into a large hole.

The improved model is the Waste Minimisation model, #2, below. This new model compels individuals, producers and local and regional authorities to review the status quo and take steps to rethink waste management processes.

In future practice, the visual message at play encourages broad participation in reducing waste and allows little for disposal. The basis of the model encourages us to develop strategies which are aligned to stated priorities.

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