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WE NEED TO TALK
Me kōrero ngātahi tātou
WE NEED TO TALK
Me kōrero ngātahi tātou
We’ve reviewed the bylaw to bring it in line with our recently published plan and goals for reducing waste: No Time to Waste Tiakina a Papa! Mimiti te Para! (our Waste Management and Minimisation Plan).
The written feedback period is now closed.
The Council received 5 submissions on the Waste Management Bylaw. The Council considered all feedback on Wednesday, 13 July 2022. As a result of the submissions, no changes were made to the proposed bylaw.
The Bylaw was adopted by the Council on 27 July 2022 and will come into effect on 1 September 2022, with the exception of clauses relating to waste operator licensing, which come into effect on 1 December 2022.
A waste operator licensing programme will be introduced to provide a level playing field for waste businesses and will allow the Council to better monitor waste being diverted and going to landfill in the District. With better information, we are able to target areas which need attention.
The licensing programme brings us into line with other councils in the country, particularly in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty areas. This system will not come into effect until three months after the rest of the bylaw (it will come into effect on 1 December 2022), to allow time for the licensing system to be implemented. There will be an initial application fee, then after the first year an annual licensing fee.
To recover the reasonable costs incurred processing, assessing and monitoring this licence, the following fees are proposed:
| Fee name | Description | Proposed fee |
| Application for waste operator licence (new or renewal) | Fee for the first year of a waste license, which covers the initial processing of the licence, as well as the general administration of the licensing system, and annual monitoring and enforcement of the system. | $350 |
| Annual licensing fee | This annual fee would cover staff time to administer the licensing system, data collection, and annual monitoring and enforcement of the system. | $220 per year |
Licensing is only required for those who transport or handle 30 tonnes of waste in any given year. If this applies to your business our Waste Manager, Renée Wentzel will be in touch with you.
Both organisers of large events and people carrying out building projects over $500,000 in value will be required to complete a waste management plan, and submit it to the Council. A report will be required outlining how waste was separated, and what was diverted from landfill. We will provide a plan and reporting templates for this. We expect this will encourage consideration of the waste being generated, and get people thinking about options other than landfill.
The Council determined that a clear process for customers to submit waste minimisation plans for construction waste and events is to be developed, including templates.
It was also reiterated that the Council will encourage and support initiatives aiming to improve the collection and recovery of rural waste streams in 2022/23 as outlined in the Council’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan.
If you missed our webinar on 30 May, you can view the recording by clicking the link below:
HDC Waste Management Bylaw webinar
Access Passcode: 8e7h#c^q
Our Waste Manager, Renee Wentzel will be able to help you with that. Licensing is only required for those who transport or handle 30 tonnes of waste in any given year. If we think this is you, we’ll notify you.
We are not unique in our proposal to license waste operators. Many Councils require waste operators to be licensed, including Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Matamata-Piako District Council. The licensing system allows us to know who is operating in our district and what types of waste they are collecting from our District. We are currently finding it difficult to plan for our future when we don’t have complete information about the waste we’re generating here. We have a legal and moral responsibility to reduce waste to landfill, and we need to be able to target areas of concern.
The annual fee covers the administration of the system. It takes time to request, follow up, and coordinate data from all waste operators, collate that information, and report that information to the Council.
If a waste operator has a licence and breaches it, we could amend, suspend or revoke the licence. Operating without a licence will be a breach of the bylaw from 1 December 2022. If they don’t apply for a licence and operate without one, they would be issued with a warning notice. If no licence is applied for, this is a breach of the bylaw and the waste operator is liable for a fine up to $20,000 – this requires a court process/legal action.
We will develop a clear process for this if the bylaw is approved. We aim to make it as seamless as possible – we don’t want to be holding up building projects because of a waste plan. If the bylaw is approved, we will send all waste operators (that we know of) a letter outlining what they need to do.
There are templates available for the industry, which make completing a waste plan quite simple. Separating waste on site can actually reduce your costs in skip bin fees, as a lot of building materials can be reused or recycled for free. We have no rule that you must separate waste/recycle on your construction site, but we encourage you to do so. We’d like to eventually get to a place where it’s common practice, and this is the first step.
We don’t want to make this hard for you, our aim is to get our whole community thinking about the waste we’re generating. Lou Beer, our District Events Coordinator is here to support event organisers, and can provide guidance on your waste planning. Lou can field any curly questions you might have, or our Waste Manager Renee Wentzel can also assist. Lou will be involved in the making of the templates, so that we minimise the admin required by event organisers as much as possible. There is potential for the Council to have bin stations available for organisers to use for their events, which would be colour coded for different types of waste with signage available. There are also local community groups that may be available to assist at your event.
Essentially, yes. We suggest having a discussion with your vendors to see the types of products they use, and whether they have a low or zero waste option. Even if they don’t offer a low waste option, you will need to consider what they sell, and how it will affect your event’s waste volumes. You could also advise the vendors that any waste they generate themselves needs to be taken with them at the end of the event.
