Zero Waste - the New Normal

If a waste-free world underpinned by a thriving circular economy lights your fire as much as it does mine - this read is for you!

In regard to being waste-free, Wellington has been in a bit of a shit position, literally,? as our shit currently goes to the landfill, where it needs 4 parts general waste to 1 part sludge to stabilise it - locking us into needing a whole lot of waste.

But because the main sewage pipes blew in 2020 and we had to truck our poo around the coast for a few months ( a huge resilience red flag), the council was pretty keen to commit to shelling out for a new state-of-the-art sludge drying treatment plant.? The only bummer is it might be 5 years away, which means we can’t really start waste minimisation in any seriousness until then.

The upside is - the commitment to remove sludge ( 15% of what goes into landfill ) provided a pretty good opportunity to review our situation.

This has led to a new strategic waste minimisation roadmap - which is finally boldly pointing out that Welly can be a circular economy player by becoming a leader in Resource Recovery!! Yippee!!!

Council voted to strengthen the new plan by committing to?

1. Get Everyone Involved

• Codesign with mana whenua to ensure the agreements made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi are honoured in the re-design of waste systems that protect taonga and uphold tino rangatiratanga.
• Codesign with the hugely active, energetic, and knowledgeable communities already in the waste space. We’ve got more than 11 Zero Waste advocacy organisations, who want to help the city champion a Zero Waste future!
• Co-design with the Owhiro Bay community who have an astounding vision of the Southern landfill as a taonga surrounded by native bush and birds that is only used as a last resort. They are also keen to trial becoming a waste-free community and share their experience with Wellington to help the rest of us on the journey.

2. Get More Ambitious

We know that Wellingtonians have the drive to reduce their waste and emissions (waste accounts for 7.5% of Welly’s emissions), so the new plan will be more ambitious so the council can catch up with where Wellington wants to be - waste-free!

This ambition in the next co-designed iteration will also assess the wider benefits to cultural, environmental, and social wellbeing, along with the financial picture.

3. Get Going now

• While we wait for the exciting new system for sludge removal, we can start planning and trialing the new parts of our more circular economy so that when we finally turn the sludge tap off, we are ready to go with well-tested waste reduction initiatives that our communities can be proud of.
• Letting the people with the bright ideas get to it right away. There are cool new waste-busting initiatives showing up every day around town from Again Again, Reusabowl and Cupcycle tackling packaging, to Everybody Eats tackling food waste and food insecurity. Repair cafes, refilleries, and tool libraries are booming. We’re so lucky to have these bright people rolling these things out. Initiatives like these deserve to be supported and the increased waste levy fees must go to waste minimisation initiatives like these.?
• Let communities take control - there will be new funding for community composting hubs. This will allow communities to reduce their organic food waste, and their emissions (organic material in landfills produces a heap of methane), regardless of whether they have space for a compost bin at their place. It also builds community resilience, skills, and keeps the lovely nutrients from organics in the soil.

This new ambitious roadmap is also a great way to build an economic opportunity that creates well-being for people through green jobs and opening up new initiatives that bring solutions to create a circular economy further up the chain and reduce our emissions. This is the chance to change our culture and work with Wellington to seek solutions so we all take responsibility and make Zero Waste the new normal.

Laurie Foon - Councillor Paekawakawa Southern Ward Wellington

Ngā Mihi nui to all the Welly community who tirelessly contribute to helping us become waste-free.