We are serious about waste . . .
. . . and so is our community.
Hastings District Council and Napier City Council have worked together to come up with a new way to manage our rubbish.
The initial work saw all kinds of options for dealing with rubbish considered, ranging from hi-tech solutions used in Europe and the Americas, to a focus on removing as much as possible from the waste stream, to the status quo.
While the hi-tech options were attractive and were thoroughly investigated, the cost and our small population meant we would have to take nearly all of the country’s rubbish to make it financially viable. That was not the answer; but neither was the status quo.
Financially and practically, the feasible option is to work to educate residents on how to remove recyclable materials from the waste stream, so as little as possible goes to landfill. Achieving that could see the amount of material going to the landfill more than halved.
A full public consultation process carried out before the draft Joint Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMP) was developed. It certainly created a lot of interest, with more than 6165 submitters writing to Council with their views, and about 70 of those addressing the hearings panel.