Councils propose joint waste management and minimisation plan

December 12th, 2011
[TDC press release]

The release of the proposed Joint Waste Management and Minimisation Plan is a call for real behavioural change in the communities of Nelson and Tasman.

Driven by the Nelson and Tasman Councils, the plan focuses on creating a community responsibility for minimising and managing waste in the region. It is a challenge that will need to be taken up by residents, businesses as well as the Councils, says working party chair, Tasman District Councillor Judene Edgar.

"In the past the Councils have delivered waste management in terms of providing transfer stations and recycling initiatives focused on managing what is produced and disposed of," she says.

"The time has come for the community as a whole to look seriously at what we can do to minimise our waste before disposal. Not creating waste in the first place is more sustainable.

"Over the past few years we have seen what we can do with recycled glass for infrastructure in roading and as a base for the Trafalgar Park playing surface. However, ingenious and well-intentioned as it is it is still driven by the question of 'what are we going to do with this pile of material?' We need to continue thinking and investing in waste minimisation.

"We must continue to make incremental changes. The Councils, while maintaining and developing waste management, are doing so in a world where costs of disposal will only continue to rise, financially and environmentally. Good waste management is about managing the inputs, not just the outputs, through recycling and refuse stations - Councils cannot do it alone," Councillor Edgar concluded.

The proposed Joint Waste Management and Minimisation Plan is out for consultation with submissions accepted up to 31 January 2012. Copies of the Plan can be found on the Nelson City and Tasman District Councils' websites, and at Council offices and libraries. Click here to view it online »

Comment by Harald Laarakker:
[Posted 29 January 2012]

It would be good to start to re-educate the public on how do deal with waste and to minimize it. I still see people at work wrapping thier green waste in their waste plastic and then in the bin. It's not culturely inbedded in society at the moment! Educating before thinking about this and that to tackle the issue! Overpacking of products is another. Try holding that back! Good luck! A clean world is not a business of making money by the way!

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