Media Release

19 December 2025

For immediate release

Council adopts the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan

In the final Council Meeting of 2025, Kawerau District Council adopted the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan.

Councils are mandated by the Local Government Act 2002 to provide sanitation services as part of a comprehensive waste management framework also governed by various other legislative requirements.

A key aim of the plan is the diversion of waste streams away from landfill.   Kawerau District Council is currently diverting 30 to 40% of the total waste away from landfill.

The driver to further reduce waste and divert recyclable and other material from landfill has multiple benefits with being better kaitiaki or stewards helping to reduce environmental impacts, ensuring materials are reused and kept in circulation longer and this achieves waste reductions that are affordable to the community.

Following various updates and a review of the district’s waste assessment, the draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan was adopted by Council on 18 June 2025 and put out for public consultation from 19 June to 18 July 2025.

A range of engagement activities, including public meetings, information stalls at local markets and an online campaign, 79 submissions were received providing detailed information and feedback. 

Most submitters (a total of 70) either strongly agreed (45) or agreed (25) with the direction of the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan to reduce the amount of waste being created and to increase the diversion rate away from the landfill through recycling or reusing.

Key themes emerging from the public consultation included:

• Ongoing and enhanced education and communication about recycling and waste reduction
• Improving processes and infrastructure for kerbside collections and drop-offs at the Transfer Station
• Collaboration with local businesses to promote waste reduction, included expanded options for recycling plastics and batteries

These themes have been addressed within the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan with more actions including plans for levy-funded zero-waste educational initiatives, increased signage and refined language for the district’s high Māori demographics and more collaboration to achieve environmental goals.

In parallel, Council has upgraded the services at the Transfer Station to make it easier for the community to drop off sorted recycling free of charge, and other items as part of product stewardship arrangements. This includes:

• Upgrading the Transfer Station to provide easy access for the community to drop off sorted recycling including paper, glass, cardboard free of charge
• Council joined the National Tyre Stewardship and residents can now drop-off up to five tyres free of charge
• Council joined the national battery recycling stewardship group in mid-2025 to provide free drop-off small home batteries, in addition to the existing vehicle battery drop off service already offered
• Changing the charging rate for the sale and purchase of materials at the Transfer Station by weight (this ensures those who use the service are paying for the service or products)

Kawerau District Council operates an in-house recycling collection service that includes the collection of kerbside recyclables, the onsite processing of concrete into crushed aggregate for resale, collection and processing of green waste at the rapid infiltration basins into compost that is used within the district and other reuse activities.

Since receiving the feedback, Council has increased communication on social media platforms and in the Council’s monthly newsletter to residents about the solid waste changes and services available.

Last week, a guide on kerbside recycling, greenwaste and the services available at the Transfer Station was delivered to every home in the district, with the aim of reducing the uptake of recycling, lowering contamination of greenwaste to make a better quality compost and being better kaitiaki stewards of the environment.

Submitters will now be contacted and advised that the plan was adopted and that further work, particularly education with schools and with the community will be scheduled in 2026.

This includes developing and delivering educational materials and workshops on composting and reuse and investigating subsidies for home compost bins/worm farms via waste levy funding to encourage food and greenwaste diversion. Improving the quality of recyclables collected is another key focus.  

Overall, the plan aims to contribute to the New Zealand National Target of 2030 of a 10% reduction of waste generated per person and a 30% reduction in waste disposed per person (based on a 2020 baseline); and a 30% reduction in biogenic methane from waste (based on a 2017 baseline).

Council will continue to investigate options to work with neighbouring councils to develop better ways to manage solid waste.

Ends/.

Pictured:

ABOVE: Kawerau Transfer Station aerial view.

ABOVE: Weigh bridge at the Kawerau Transfer Station 2025.