Nelson City and Tasman District Councils are calling for submissions on the Nelson Tasman Waste Management and Minimisation Plan 2025.

Our last joint plan went out for consultation in 2019. Following the review of the current plan, a new plan has been drafted to help Nelson Tasman reach our waste reduction targets. Our goals are to prevent waste in the first place by focusing on reducing resource consumption and recovering resources where possible. We also have a strong focus on addressing the impacts of climate change and natural hazards.

“The 2025 Waste Plan gives us the opportunity to better align waste reduction targets with climate change actions,” says Group Manager Infrastructure Alec Louverdis.

“It allows us to align with updated government legislation and work with the community on our future strategic direction, working towards a low waste society.”

“A key target laid out in the 2019 Waste Plan was to achieve a 10% per person reduction in waste to landfill by 2030. Our current waste sent to landfill is 525kg per person, which is below the national rate and equates to 77,000 tonnes of discarded material to landfill each year,” says Louverdis.

Both Councils have already taken significant steps to reduce landfill waste. Council funds the the popular Repair Cafes, which encourage people to fix and reuse items, Second Hand Sunday, which helps people find a new home for unwanted items, and the Compost 101 activities which teach people how to compost at home. We also launched the successful Bring It and Reconstruct programs in 2024.

“While preparing this plan we’ve reviewed all the good work that our Councils and communities are doing to reduce waste. One of the initiatives we’ve introduced across Nelson Tasman is our building and demolition waste recycling and reuse programme, Reconstruct, which is showing steady growth,” says Tasman District Councillor Christeen McKenzie, who is the Deputy Chair of the working party.

“We know that there’s more that can be done. We’re interested to know where people think we should focus our efforts in the future. We’re also keen to hear what people are doing to make our region waste-free.”

Nelson City Councillor and Chair of the Waste Plan Working Party Aaron Stallard says the plan aims to mobilise the community to reduce waste and thereby safeguard the health of people and the planet.

“We have made great progress in recycling and reusing materials, reducing landfill emissions, and treating harmful waste, and this plan allows us to go even further, with a new target to avoid the generation of waste in the first place. By reducing household waste, we also save people and our community the cost of disposal.”

Pre-engagement with key stakeholders revealed common themes around soft plastics, commercial and construction waste, and green waste/composting.

This feedback helped inform the drafting of the new plan about to be consulted on. The new draft plan will also provide more opportunities for our community and iwi to engage on the strategic direction for waste in our region.

A significant consideration for the 2025 plan, compared to previous plans, is climate change.

Nelson City Council’s Manager Climate Change Rachel Pemberton explains the effects waste has on Nelson’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“Waste contributes about 14% of Nelson's greenhouse gas emissions therefore effective waste management is crucial in our fight against climate change. By reducing waste, we can significantly lower Nelson’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Joint Waste Management Plan is a vital step towards a sustainable future, ensuring that our community takes collective action to protect our environment for future generations.

“Strengthening our systems to handle waste during natural disasters, including recovering materials from damaged buildings and ensuring landfill resilience, is also crucial for reducing emissions and preparing for climate disruption."

The 2025 plan lays out three goals, three targets and five focus areas that form the base of the Councils’ action plan.

“It is critical that we stop wasting valuable resources, for example the valuable resources such as organic waste that could be used, rather than throwing it into landfill. Our levels of resource consumption and waste generation exceed safe limits, so the time to act is now,” says Councillor Stallard.

The Waste Minimisation Act 2008 requires Councils to review their waste plans every six years. This review is carried out by staff and approved by elected members and was used by Councils to decide whether to make no change to the previous waste plan, to make changes to the previous plan or to revoke the previous plan and create a new one.

In March 2023, the government released a new waste strategy. This was taken into account by the Waste Plan Working Party, which recommended that Council’s commence revoking and replacing the current waste plan.

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