New Zealand – why councils are collaborating for waste reduction

In New Zealand, Waitakere and North Shore City Councils are making local government and business history by commissioning the country‘‘s largest-ever waste collection contract and by proposing a waste by-law aimed at reducing the region‘‘s rubbish. The new waste collection contract signed by two of New Zealand‘‘s largest cities is also a major step towards delivering on the "Zero Waste‘‘ policies.



Together with Rodney District Council, which is participating in the waste by-law and may also join the waste collection initiative when their current contractual commitments expire next year, the councils are the first to seriously implement elements of central government‘‘s National Waste Strategy.



Waitakere first publicly tabled idea of collaborating with other councils for waste reduction in a 1999 document titled, "Your waste, whose responsibility," in an attempt to challenge the commercial monopoly of the Auckland waste market. The council‘‘s recommendations progressed during a meeting in 2002 between Waitakere City mayor Bob Harvey and his North Shore counterpart, George Wood, where they discussed ways at achieving "Zero Waste" in Auckland.



"People often criticise local governments as highly bureaucratic," says Waitakere City Mayor Bob Harvey. "The new waste collection contract and regional bylaw clearly demonstrate the ability of the councils to work together toward a common goal that will achieve great efficiencies and benefit ratepayers – not to mention the benefits to the environment"



Of New Zealand‘‘s five major waste collection operators, Onyx Group Ltd emerged as the outstanding tender for the shared services contract, worth $55 million over ten years.



Waitakere‘‘s solid waste manager, Jon Roscoe, who is also project manager of the "shared services" initiative, says that Onyx "raised the bar" with the solutions it is offering the councils for its collection services. "Unlike other operators, Onyx does not own a landfill and has therefore shown the need to refocus its energies on the recycling sector, They demonstrated other initiatives such as tendering high pay scales for their staff, which should lead to better staff selection and retention" says Mr Roscoe.



Oynx has the potential to earn additional revenue by selling the recyclables it collects. Onyx CEO Mike Huddleston says the overseas recycling market becomes much more attractive when you are able collect the larger volumes provided by multiple councils. "The more recyclables we collect means the more options we have to increase our revenues and add to our bottom line," says Mr Huddleston.



The sheer volume of recycling that will collected when the trucks hit the streets on 1 July have justified the building of a new recycling sorting facility at Waitakere City Council‘‘s Refuse Transfer Station in Henderson, where Onyx will transport all recyclables for future recovery.



Together with the existing refuse transfer station, the new sorting facility – which is expected to employ 11 new staff once it becomes operational next month – will for the first time enable the cities to closely audit the entire waste stream, thereby forming an accurate picture of what approximately 378,100 people, almost 10% of the New Zealand‘‘s population, discard every month.



Without the ability to monitor the waste stream, the councils need to rely on commercial waste collectors to tell them what‘‘s being collected, many of which financially benefit from increased waste volumes and do not perform complete waste audits.



A recent memo from the Ministry Environment‘‘s senior advisor of sustainable industry, Chris Purchas, states that councils should own or control disposal facilitie