Eunomia Chairman Dr Dominic Hogg was interviewed on BBC World about China’s move to restrict imports of recycling. The restrictions are a wake up call for the recycling industry. While they will cause some short term pain, they also could provide an incentive to move to a system that is more sustainable. This will mean designing products and packaging so they can be reclaimed more easily, and putting in place better systems for collecting and sorting material so it is clean and has value.
In this article from Revolve magazine Duncan Wilson looks at the past and future of waste planning in New Zealand.
The way we manage waste has evolved significantly over the last 30 years. Unfortunately not a lot of credit for that can go to our waste planning. If we are going to meet the challenges of the next 30 years we are going to need to think differently. We are going to need to do things differently. Our waste plans need to be about more than just when and what bins get collected. They need to be about how we make our communities better.
To download the article click the download button below:
Waste Data Indicators are now available! If you want to compare your waste and recycling performance to what happens elsewhere you need to be sure your numbers mean the same things. That is where the new Waste Data Framework Waste Indicators come in. We have worked with WasteMINZ and Waste Not Consulting to come up with a set of indicators that you can use to present and compare waste data. The indicators are:
1A – All waste to Class 1 landfills
1B – Waste to Class 1 landfills excl. special waste
This free webinar on solid waste bylaws was organised by WasteMINZ. It will be invaluable for any TA considering introducing or amending their bylaw or looking to implement the National Waste Data Framework.
During 2017, Eunomia Research & Consulting worked with the Waikato and Bay of Plenty region councils to develop a solid waste bylaw template. The template has been legally reviewed and provides draft clauses for all issues councils are likely to want to cover in their bylaw. It is freely available through WasteMINZ which contributed to the project. The template has been used by a range of councils since it was developed.
The live webinar was on 05 April, 2018. A recording of the webinar is now available if you were not able to join us at the time.
To access the webinar recording, click the button below.
Eunomia worked with the WasteMINZ TA Forum to update the Local Government Waste Manifesto that we originally helped create in 2018. Since the first Manifesto was produced there have been a range of significant changes in the sector. These include the impacts of China’s ‘National Sword’ policy, the ongoing impacts of Covid 19 and the global economic recession, and a growing awareness around the need to tackle plastic pollution.
The updated Manifesto was released on 4 August 2020. It sets out a number of additional actions for Government that will enable real reductions in waste to landfill and reduce the costs borne by councils and their communities. Together with the original 5 actions, the key elements are:
Review the New Zealand Waste Strategy to set a clear programme for action
Expand the Waste Disposal Levy and progressively raise the levy to reduce waste to landfill
Officially adopt the National Waste Data Framework to enable better planning and monitoring
Introduce a Container Deposit Scheme to lift recycling rates and reduce litter and marine pollution
Implement mandatory or co-designed product stewardship schemes for tyres, e-waste and, agrichemicals, and farm plastics
Invest in onshore and local infrastructure for processing recovered materials
Standardise household rubbish and recycling collection systems
Take action on plastics and packaging to reduce pollution and make sure all packaging used or made in NZ can be re-used or recycled
To download a copy of the updated Manifesto click the download button below:
Duncan Wilson is featured in the August issue of Local Government magazine, talking about the recent Eunomia report on New Zealand’s waste levy. Click the button below to download a copy of the article.
Eunomia worked with Auckland Council to produce this zero waste events guide. The guide is designed for the non-waste specialist, in particular event managers. It will help you reduce the amount of waste your events produce and work towards zero waste. It also signposts to useful detail in appendices and special case studies (available from Auckland Council), so you can drill down where you need more information.
Click the button to download a copy of the main guide.
Eunomia Research & Consulting undertook research to improve understanding of the impacts of possible changes to the structure and rate of the Waste Disposal Levy.
The study, which was commissioned by a consortium of businesses and councils, showed that there are likely to be real benefits for NZ through putting in place a well-structured levy regime. The research found there would be significant benefits in terms of waste minimisation, employment, and the economy. Key features should include:
Extending the levy to all types of fills
A large increase in the rate of the levy
A differential between ‘active’ waste and ‘inert’ waste
In this report, prepared jointly with Resource Media, we analyse recycling data from around the world to understand which countries really lead the municipal waste recycling league table.
Some eye-catching headline recycling rates are reported in the media, but the basis on which rates are calculated can vary considerably. In some cases, a great deal of commercial or construction waste is counted, while approaches to accounting for rejects and for intermediate processes like MBT vary considerably. Even within the UK, the four nations now report their recycling on different bases, with Defra producing an annual set of figures that allow the results to be compared on an equal footing.
Both the OECD and the European Commission produce annual municipal waste and recycling statistics, which eliminate some (but far from all) of the inconsistencies. However, there are a few high recyclers that are members of neither organisation – Singapore and Taiwan, for example, report recycling rates above 55%. Bringing these data together allow us to present a world league table of reported recycling rates, which shows Germany as the world leader on 66%.
This is only the start of the story, though, as these figures don’t really compare like with like. Taking account of the different ways of counting, Germany remains in top spot, but is less than two percentage points ahead of Taiwan, which rises to second place, while Wales is in third.
The report also shows the rapid progress that Wales is making, and that the coutry is rapidly closing in on Germany’s established place at the top of the chart.
This report is available free of charge. Press the silver button and supply a few details about yourself in order to access the download.
One of the biggest barriers to managing our waste better in NZ is a lack of good data. We worked with WasteMINZ, the Ministry for the Environment and Waste Not Consulting to develop the first step to better data.
The development of the national waste data framework has taken the following form:
A staged approach for developing a national waste data framework, focusing initially on the most important elements while also setting out a clear ‘upgrade’ path to include other elements.
The first stage of the framework (which is now complete) includes data on waste disposed of at levied disposal sites, information on waste services and infrastructure as well as other areas where practicable
Subsequent stages of the framework (to be addressed in the future) will include more detailed data on diverted materials and waste disposed of at non-levied disposal sites.
The National Waste Data Framework does the following:
Establishes a set of definitions to act as a common language for collecting and reporting waste data
Determines what data is gathered
Determines who gathers this data
Specifies how the target data is gathered
Directs who data is reported to
Sets out how the data that is collected is collated and presented
The first stage of the framework is freely available for anyone to download.
