Zero Waste: Kapiti Coast District Council

Location: Wellington Region

Population: 49,800 (2011 estimate)

In recent years, Kāpiti Coast District Council have made many changes to the district’s waste services and introduced a number of waste minimisation incentives.

With the closure of Otaihanga Landfill in 2007, a new Resource Recovery Facility was constructed. As far as possible, reusable and recyclable materials are diverted from the waste stream. Items such as clothing, books and furniture are sent to the onsite Reuse Shop.

Recycling drop off stations for free drop off of ‘kerbside’ recycling items are located within the Recycling Centre in Waikanae and in the Otaki Transfer Station.

All of the district’s green waste is separated and sent to a composting operation in Otaihanga, located on the former landfill.

Kerbside recycling collection was launched in August of 2008. Since then, waste to landfill has been decreasing and public awareness on the importance of recycling has been growing, aided by various educational initiatives.

A Waste Levy Allocation Policy was adopted in 2011 which aims to fund waste minimisation initiatives on the Kāpiti Coast through a transparent contestable process.

Two waste reduction projects were supported under the New Technologies and Seed-Funding category of the Policy in 2010-2011:

Silaca Glass – an associate member of the Clean Technology Centre in Ōtaki – received set-up funding for the glass-crushing operations that now run out of Waikanae Recycling Centre and Ōtaki Transfer Station. The crushed glass is used for a variety of applications including sandblasting and as an aggregate for products like paving stones and garden sculptures.

Supported by the waste levy, Wellington-based company Carbon Logistics has been running a domestic anaerobic digestion trial on the Kāpiti Coast. In addition to human effluent, food scraps are fed into a sealed septic tank via an in-sink waste disposal unit – reducing waste to landfill. The organic material breaks down in the absence of oxygen to produce renewable biogas, which can be utilised for heating or cooking.

A number of community waste reduction initiatives have gained funding under the Community Projects and Education category. Organisations, schools and groups of residents have received composting vessels, worm farms, mulchers, biodigesters, signage for in-house recycling schemes and support from council staff.

Also in 2011, Kāpiti Coast District Council adopted the Wellington Region Waste Minimisation and Management Plan. The Plan was prepared collaboratively by the eight councils in the Wellington area.

Within the plan, a key individual action for Kāpiti Coast District Council is the ongoing support towards the goal of zero waste to landfill. To this end, strategies, objectives, policies and activities have been developed and procedures for measuring progress were established.

For more information see: http://www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/Your-Council/A---Z-Council-Services-and-Facilities/Rubbish-and-Recycling/

Updated March 2012