A Rotorua Smart Environmental waste truck. Photo / File
A Rotorua Smart Environmental waste truck. Photo / File
Setting up a new composting facility is one way Rotorua Lakes Council wants to reduce waste generation by more than 50 per cent.
Public consultation on the council's proposed Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2022-2028 opened on Tuesday, with portions of the plan focused on organic waste.
The proposal documentsays it was designed to reduce the city's municipal waste generation by more than 50 per cent by diversion of new waste streams, improvements in recycling collections and enhancing accessibility to facilities and services.
This included collecting and processing food and garden organics from the kerbside and providing residents and businesses with a food waste drop-off facility for composting, as well as relocating and upgrading the recycling centre.
Tauranga's council introduced a new kerbside collection for food scraps and garden waste last year.
The document says the advanced compost facility and centre upgrades would be funded by rates.
"These steps will help shape Rotorua's transition to a low waste and low carbon future."
Council environmental and infrastructure solutions deputy chief executive Stavros Michael said kerbside collection was indicated as a priority in its plans last year.
The cost of introducing an organic waste collection service is currently being investigated, and options for how the new service is to be funded will form part of the public consultation process, he said.
Waste activities are 20 per cent funded by general rates and 80 per cent funded by targeted rates.
Central Government supported the council by providing about $250,000 for waste minimisation services for the Rotorua community.
Rotorua's draft plan listed five targets: a 30 per cent reduction in municipal waste to landfill, 45 per cent reduction in recycling contamination, contamination-free glass collection, 60 per cent reduction in kerbside food waste to landfill and a 60 per cent reduction in kerbside green waste to landfill.
The document says these were "ambitious but achievable".
Rotorua Lakes Council is a member of WasteMINZ, a representative body of the waste, resource recovery and contaminated land management sectors in New Zealand.
Sector projects manager Sarah Pritchett said it was a no-brainer to collect organic waste separately and compost it, given it was a valuable resource that can help gardeners, farmers and horticulturalists reduce their reliance on synthetic inputs.
She said it reduced waste to landfills dramatically and, in places where it had been implemented already, improved the quality of recycling.
More and more councils would move towards doing it, she said.
Tauranga City Council introduced organic kerbside collection in its new system last year; during the six months after its new opt-in garden waste collection service began, an increase of 213 per cent was collected.
Tauranga's new kerbside waste system began in July last year. Photo / George Novak
As for its implementation of food scrap bins, the contents were transported to a composting facility in Hampton Downs and turned into compost.
However, Tauranga City Council sustainability and waste manager Sam Fellows said in future, when food waste processing facilities are developed closer to home, food waste will also be processed locally.
Tauranga City Council sustainability and waste manager Sam Fellows. Photo / George Novak
"In both our food waste and garden waste, services use is higher than expected, which is great to see. In the first six months, more than 2.1 million kilograms of garden waste has been collected along with almost two million kilograms of food waste that otherwise would have gone to landfill."
A Ministry for the Environment spokesperson said it was supportive of all efforts to divert food waste from landfills as it reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
Currently, 12 councils have food and garden or food-only organic waste collections. Of the 67 local councils, 16 per cent already provide a collection or are rolling one out, and 36 per cent intend to provide a collection, or have an action to investigate providing a collection.
It said the Ministry's Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) had funded these types of facilities in the past, and the cost to set up an advanced composting facility was different in terms of size and materials accepted.
The most recent was to Ruapehu District Council to set up a small-scale composting facility in Taumarunui.
"Additionally, councils also receive their portion of the waste levy revenue, which can be used for waste minimisation activities."
The plan did not require endorsement by the ministry.
The document detailed the Rotorua landfill refuse transfer station received 1,400-2,900 tonnes of waste per month between 2017 and 2021.
It expected municipal and commercial waste to landfill was about 60,000 tonnes a year.
A waste composition graphic shows organic material made up more than 55 per cent of kerbside waste while paper, plastics and sanitary paper made up about 24 per cent of the refuse.
In the recycling bin, contamination was on the up in the 2020-2021 audit from previous years, the average being 23 per cent, compared to 15-16 per cent of contamination observed in previous years.
Council asked the community if it agreed with the priority actions and if it had feedback on them.
Consultation will close on February 28, and more information can be found on the council website.
