Zero Waste: Timaru District Council

Location: Canterbury, South Island
Population: 43,000

Named Te Maru, 'a place of shelter', Timaru was originally a haven for weary Maori travellers canoeing along the otherwise shelterless eastern coastline of the South Island. Today the Timaru District is a haven to 43,000 people.

Located at the Southern end of the Canterbury Plains, Timaru overlooks beautiful Caroline Bay. The remainder of the District extends across the plains, and gentle hills, towards the Southern Alps. The Timaru District is predominantly a primary producing area with associated processing and service industries, dependant upon the rural economy.

Solid Waste Management

Six old style landfills have been closed and a network of  four transfer stations constructed to feed the Redruth Landfill which was opened in 1996.
At the current rate of filling the landfill will last until 2025.

The Local Government Act requirement for the Council to produce a Solid Waste Management Plan along with the pending renewal of collection and disposal contracts have been the driving force for further change for the Timaru District.

A comprehensive public awareness and consultation programme about solid waste was undertaken during February and March 1999. The aim of the programme was to get the community to choose one of two options.

• Option A - Continue with the current collection and disposal methods for another ten years; or
• Option B - Implement a waste diversion strategy with new concepts so that up to 98% of our rubbish may be diverted from going to the landfill.

As a result 89% of the community indicated that the Council should be investigating and considering alternative waste management methods instead of landfilling. 94% of these respondents said that this should occur by 2005.

During October 1999 the Council commenced the initial policy phase of developing a solid waste management plan. This consisted of developing a number of guiding principles, objectives and a vision for the long term.

The main objectives developed at that time were:

• Minimise the amount of waste that is produced
• Maximise the amount of resources to be reused, recycled and recovered
• Ensure disposal practices exceed standards
• Determine future solid waste management methods
• Determine ownership and control

In considering the vision the Council had to assess where our community should ideally be in the future. It was at this time that the Council accepted the proposal from the Zero Waste Trust and formally developed the vision of ZERO WASTE TO LANDFILL in October 1999.

Timaru District Council's first step towards Zero Waste was to consider who will have strategic control of the waste stream, i.e. whether to go for privatisation, joint ventures, contracts, a trading entity, a trust or a combination of these.

Two factors Council is considering in making this decision are:

• The ability and control to achieve Zero Waste to Landfill; and
• The ownership of materials to maximise economic success.

Council is envisaged to complete a solid waste plan for the district by December  2003.

In the mean time several initiatives are in place or are shortly to be introduced, to help with the overall vision of zero waste.

• The Timaru District Waste Exchange is now being promoted to local businesses and industries. To date, many businesses have been paid a personal visit by the Waste Exchange Co-ordinator, to distribute information and explain how the exchange will operate. While promotion of the exchange has been kept deliberately low-key at this stage, initial feedback from the business community has been very positive and encouraging.
• The Christchurch City Council developed Cleaner Production Programme, 'Target Zero', was introduced to businesses in the Timaru district in 2002. The Timaru District Council decided to commit to Zero Waste to Landfill plan for their main office in Timaru. The Council's Zero Waste Advisor has had the great pleasure of removing 158 rubbish bins from staff's desks and replacing them with an office recycling system.The scheme has achieved a diversion of waste for recycling by an amazing 85%. This Zero Waste plan saves Council approximately $3,000 annually in disposal costs.
  As a result, there are now several other businesses and schools that have adopted similar schemes.
•  A “recycle” shop is to be constructed by the end of 2003. The shop is for the sale of reusable materials retrieved from the waste stream.  The shop will be operated by the Aoraki Wastebusters Charitable Trust following on from the lead of many other successful operations around the country. The shop will be located adjacent to Saltwater Creek which will offer timeout with the natural environment.
• A new Scrap Metal recycling drop-off point has been constructed at the Redruth site. This will be operated by Frost Steel Compactors. The site will cater for old car bodies, whiteware, light gauge and heavy gauge steel.
• As part of the solid waste plan development, further investigation into kerbside collection systems, recycling sorting , organic waste processing and markets will be undertaken.

During the next three years significant work will be undertaken in the Timaru District to help achieve the goal of Zero Waste to Landfill.