Have your say about waste management and minimisation in Mercury Bay

Proposed action plan

The Council is developing a proposed action plan over the next six years towards achieving the goal of waste management and minimisation. This is described in the draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan (WMMP), which they are calling for public feedback on.

The goals of the draft plan include: 

• Avoid and reduce waste and maximise recovery
• Collaborate with the community, central government, other local authorities and non-governmental organisations to minimise waste
• Reduce the amount of Council-controlled waste (e.g.waste collected kerbside or at transfer stations) by 5 per cent by 2029
• Reduce food waste currently collected as refuse by the kerbside and sent to landfill by 30 per cent by 2026.

The draft plan can be downloaded below. The document gives an overview of the current situation, future demand, issues and opportunities and the Council’s vision, goals, objectives and targets. 

Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan Survey

The WMMP is a part of Thames-Coromandel’s waste management planning processes. It sets out how the Council will move toward a circular economy and sustainable future with funding for specific actions considered and approved in long term or annual plans.

Getting feedback from our community is an important part of finalising our WMMP. To make sure we’ve got it right for our people, we want to hear from you about whether you support this path forward to reduce waste, and manage our waste responsibly.

- Thames Coromandel District Council Survey Team

You can have your say by completing a short survey before 12 March 2023. WMMP Survey

The survey consists of a total of 11 questions around the vision, objectives and goals in the draft plan. There is an opportunity to comment further and provide more feedback for each question.

Waste is expensive, so investing now in innovative ways to reduce the amount of waste we all produce can pay big dividends down the line. Please share your innovative ideas about managing waste with us so together we can reduce the amount we’re sending to landfill and recover more material for recycling, composting and re-use.

- Len Salt - Mayor Thames Coromandel District

What is a circular economy?

The traditional linear economy sees us take natural resources, make things and then dispose of them.

In a circular economy the focus is to design products to be more durable, reusable, repairable, and recyclable, so their usable life is extended. Then recover and regenerate products and materials at the end of its life. The aim of a circular economy in relation to waste is to avoid waste altogether.

Image credit - University of Auckland

As managers of waste and resource recovery services for communities, the Council have an opportunity to bring about a circular economy. The WMMP will guide how the Council will manage and minimise all solid waste and diverted material in the district, whether it is managed by Council or not. Because not all solid waste is managed by Council, the vision of the WMMP cannot be achieved without strong collaboration and enablement of the community including residents and ratepayers, businesses and institutions, contractors and community groups.

The Peninsula’s opportunities and challenges are similar to those faced by other communities across New Zealand. The Council advises it will actively seek to partner with other Councils, business and communities to reduce waste, recover materials and manage waste appropriately.

For more information about the WMMP

For more information about the Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, visit the TCDC website.

The Wāhi Tukurua / Mercury Bay Resource Recovery Centre Team are holding a hui / meeting to help interested parties understand what this document means. Join them at Whitianga Social Services on Wednesday 8th March at 7 pm – come to learn, share ideas and have a voice ! All interested parties welcome!