Kawerau District Council

Location: Eastern Bay of Plenty
Population: 7800

Situated in the beautiful Bay of Plenty, Kawerau enjoys one of the warmest climates in the country and enjoys close proximity to many great recreational areas.

Waste Reductions

Kawerau District Council adopted a Zero Waste policy in October 1999.
Council achieved a 10% reduction in local waste to landfill in 2000/2001 and 20% in 2001/2002.
The goal is to achieve a 50% reduction in the 2002/2003-year.

Future Initiatives

To achieve the 50% reduction Council will introduce a 60 litre kerbside recycling bin, a 240 litre wheelie bin for fortnightly greenwaste collections and a 60 litre wheelie bin for residual waste, in December 2002.

The Council will be introducing other initiatives in future years as the long term goal is to reduce the residual refuse volume to 30% of the historical figure by 2005.

Actions undertaken

On adopting a Zero Waste target, the Council's first initiative was to employ a person at the landfill to strip car bodies for scrap and spare parts.

In January 2001 a drop off centre was set up at the landfill for paper, plastic, glass, metals and cardboard.

In January 2002 the above drop off centre was replaced by a Resource Recovery Centre. Here the public is assisted with the separation of recyclable commodities and resaleble items from residual waste (to be sold at a small shop on-site). Green waste is being stockpiled and then chipped for use as an energy source for the boilers at the local pulp and paper industry.

The Kawerau community has already undertaken a number of waste reduction initiatives:

• Worm farming was introduced into primary and intermediate schools in the latter part of 2000 and has proven very successful.
• The Council is trialling the disposal of its sewerage waste screening with worm beds.
• Recycled fashion shows have been organised by the local Soroptomist Club for the last two years.
• A small kitchen industry has also been set up to produce reusable calico bags to replace plastic shopping bags in the area.

Zero Waste Recycled Fashion Show

In August 2000, the Kawerau Soroptimists organised a Zero Waste Recycled Fashion Show. The event was such a great success that another show was held in May 2001.

To see pictures of last year's contestants, check out the Kawerau Soroptimist website. http://www.nzol.net.nz/kawerausrfs

For further information contact Tom McDowall at tom.mcdowall@kaweraudc.govt.nz  or call 07 323 8779.