Darebin City Council (DCC) in Melbourne,
Australia were the first in the world to declare a climate emergency in
December 2016.
We have been appointed to help the council to determine what practical actions they can take to meaningfully reduce the amount of carbon that they currently emit through their waste management practices. We are working with our UK office, as well as Australian engineering consultancy Irwinconsult.
As a result of the declaration, the council
has produced a Climate Emergency Plan, which outlines the objectives and
actions that DCC will take to reduce their contribution to climate change. Our
work with DCC addresses Key Direction No. 5: Consumption and Waste
Minimisation. The aim of this directive is to reduce the amount of waste to
landfill, including food waste and recycling.
Our team are working with DCC to examine the practical steps that they can take to reduce their carbon emissions from waste. This involves carrying out an assessment of the area’s current emissions, as well as evaluating the potential effectiveness of a range of options, including the potential for Energy from Waste and the use of biochar.
Since Darebin’s declaration, local
authorities across the world have taken similar action, with dozens of councils
having currently declared climate emergencies in the UK alone.
In advising the DCC, our team is drawing from its considerable track record in this area, which includes the development in 2010 of the ground-breaking Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standard (EPS) for the Greater London Authority (GLA). Work for the GLA currently includes the provision of support to London boroughs to ensure that they comply with the EPS, as well as the development of progress updates on London’s performance against the standard.
You can download a presentation referring to our work here:
Director Duncan Wilson presented on the Impact of China National Sword at this year’s WasteMINZ conference in Christchurch. The analysis concluded that, while the impact has been major so far, we are probably still only at the beginning of the changes that we will see. Recent data highlights the fact that New Zealand’s relies heavily on a small number of countries to take our material. If these countries further restrict the material they accept it could lead to real issues for what we do with our recyclables. A range of actions are likely to be necessary to secure the future of the industry.
To view the presentation click the download button below:
In the course of our work we talk to lots of council members, stakeholders, and members of the public. The topic of Waste to Energy comes up regularly. Waste to Energy is common in many places overseas such as UK, parts of Europe, Japan, and it is becoming more common in China and the USA. But New Zealand doesn’t have any Waste to Energy facilities that process municipal waste. In this article for Revolve magazine Dr Dominic Hogg and Duncan Wilson examine the pros and cons of burning waste to generate energy.
The discussion document Rebooting Recycling – What can Aotearoa do? has been released by WasteMINZ. Eunomia worked with WasteMINZ and the recycling industry to develop the document.
Overview:
The collapse in international recycling markets has left the recycling sector in New Zealand in a vulnerable position. Without positive action to address the issue, recyclable material could be sent to landfill, councils and communities will suffer financially, and operators could go out of business. Action from the Government is needed. There are some things that need to happen immediately, including:
– enabling access to funding,
– facilitating national communications, and
– obtaining better data on recyclable materials.
There are also some things that will take longer, but that will help build a more robust system and deliver a more circular economy. These actions include:
– revising the national waste strategy,
– changes to the waste disposal levy,
– product stewardship and design,
– ongoing communications, and
– positive public procurement of recycled products.
While there is a lot to do, everything that has been set out in this discussion paper can be achieved using existing funding sources and legislation. The sector is engaged and willing to work positively with the Government to ensure our sector is thriving.
Finally, this crisis also represents an opportunity, the opportunity to build a new system that can deliver better outcomes for our communities, our environment, and our economy. Together we can reboot recycling and create a circular economy for Aotearoa.
To download a copy of the discussion document click the button below:
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:
WasteMINZ is hosting a webinar on the waste disposal levy. Join us on the 21st of September at 8:30am. Eunomia’s Dr Dominic Hogg and Duncan Wilson, lead authors of the the recent ‘A Wasted Opportunity‘ report on the NZ waste levy will be the panelists.
Eunomia’s report highlighted what could potentially be achieved through well-designed changes to the levy. In this webinar, Dominic and Duncan will outline their approach to the study and discuss in more detail some of the key questions that arise from the report, such as:
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 has constructed this handy downloadable calculator to help landfill owners assess the potential financial impact of applying for a waste composition or capture and destruction Unique Emissions Factor (UEF).
The file runs in excel and requires version 2003 or more recent. You will also need to enable macros for it to run. If you have any questions or feedback please get in touch at info@eunomia.co.nz
