Waste management

12. Waste management

12.1 Minimising waste and managing its disposal
Background to the issue
Waste occurs in solid, semi solid, liquid and gaseous forms. For most people, the term 'waste' describes materials or substances that are no longer needed or useable, or have lost their economic value and therefore require disposal. However, waste can be much more than useless items, which then have to be discarded. Some waste represents a resource that, with careful management (e.g. recycling), may have economic value and can contribute to the sustainable management of our environment. Increasingly, it now represents a wasted resource.

There is a need to minimise the amount of waste generated and thereby minimise the economic, energy, social, and environmental costs associated with the wasteful consumption of resources, which can deplete critical and non-renewable resources. Waste minimisation can offer direct and immediate economic and environmental benefits. While the recovery of waste is a fundamental component of waste management, its limitations (e.g. variable quality, high collection and transportation costs, uncertain markets, and poor economic returns) mean that waste minimisation may offer the greater scope for positive environmental outcomes.

There is also a need to ensure that large volumes of waste can be safely disposed of. The availability of disposal facilities and services such as kerbside collections, transfer stations, landfills and cleanfills are an essential part of waste management. Historically rubbish dumps have been associated with a number of adverse environmental effects in the region such as the discharge of leachate to groundwater or the production of methane gases. However, over the last decade, adverse effects associated with landfills in the region have declined as the design, control, management and monitoring of landfills have been improved. Today, landfills are generally well managed with little or no adverse environmental effect. All new landfills are engineered to very high standards (e.g. landfill liners and leachate collection systems).

Increasingly, central and local governments are looking at opportunities to promote waste minimisation, reuse, recycling, and recovery. If less waste is produced, it implies that the materials and items currently consumed are being used more efficiently. Similarly, using waste as a resource by reusing, recycling and recovering energy means that other resources are subject to less pressure.

The significant issues in relation to waste management in the Taranaki region are:

Objective

WST OBJECTIVE 1

To minimise the quantity of waste being produced and disposed of within the Taranaki region and to ensure that the disposal of wastes avoids or mitigates adverse effects on the environment.

Policy
Waste minimisation and disposal

WST POLICY 1

Encourage waste minimisation practices and practices to avoid, remedy or mitigate the adverse environmental effects of final disposal by promoting, in the following order of priority:

(a)     lower levels of waste generation;

(b)     higher levels of reuse, recycling and recovery of waste; and

(c)     efficient and effective treatment and disposal of residual waste in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Explanation of the policy

Policy 1 is consistent with the waste management hierarchy adopted by the Government and in other parts of the world, including the Council's Regional Waste Management Strategy for Taranaki. The Policy places a priority on minimising waste but also acknowledges that practical and effective means of dealing with waste in specific circumstance may include the reuse, recycling and recovery of wastes and the effective and efficient disposal of any residual waste. If this hierarchy is adopted by resource users it will not only reduce or avoid adverse environmental effects associated with final waste disposal (creating significant savings to the community), it will also achieve a more efficient use of natural resources. It also reflects that every sector within the community at large has a part to play and can make a positive contribution to waste management.
Of note is that policies relating to adverse effects on the environment arising from the disposal of waste are addressed in other sections of the Regional Policy Statement (e.g. management of hazardous substances, surface water and groundwater quality, and air quality).

Related policies

All policies in Section 5.2 [Soil health] and Section 5.3 [Hazardous substances and contaminated sites]; Policy 3 of Section 6.2 [Water quality]; all policies in Section 7.1 [Air quality]; Policies 1 and 2 in Section 9.1 [Indigenous biodiversity]; all policies in Section 10.1 [Natural features and landscapes] and Section 10.3 [Amenity values]; Policy 1 in Section 14 [Energy]; and all policies in Section 15.2 [Infrastructure and network utilities].

Methods of implementation

The Taranaki Regional Council will:

The territorial authorities may consider the use of the following methods:

Principal reasons for adopting the objective, policy and methods

The objective, policy and methods of implementation give effect to the Resource Management Act and establish a planning framework for the management of wastes.  Their aim is to promote the efficient use of resources and avoid adverse effects associated with waste generation and disposal.

The policies and methods build on current approaches to this issue. They have proven to be acceptable to date in terms of promoting effective integrated management and achieving desired environmental outcomes and are considered appropriate having regard to their efficiency and effectiveness and their benefits and costs.

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