Waste not, want not

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PHOTO: Project Manager Chris Haswell and Waikato Environmental Manager Stephanie Mayor from Naylor Love. Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod

Hamilton City Council did something simple but radical in their 2019 Waste Management and Minimisation bylaw. The council made it mandatory for anyone applying for a building consent to submit a site waste plan.

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Aotearoa New Zealand has a landfill problem. The ones we have are starting to overflow, and a squeeze on new land – along with objections from residents near proposed sites – make it difficult to build new ones.

Around 50 percent of waste comes from the building and demolition industry, 90 percent of which could be reused, recycled, or returned to the supplier.

A site waste plan must outline the different types of construction or demolition waste generated by a site, and how they are going to be dealt with.

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The plan also requires the principal contractor to record what actually happens to the waste and report back to the council, explaining if it differs from what was estimated and planned for.

There is currently only one other council, New Plymouth, who also have this requirement.

Hamilton City Council’s Sustainable Resource Recovery Unit Director Tania Hermann. Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod

The council’s Sustainable Resource Recovery Unit Director, Tania Hermann, said the site waste plans are an important tool to help change building behaviour.

“A lot of the construction companies are designing out waste at the beginning of their plans, rather then having the waste go to landfill at the end.”

Hermann said the building and demolition sector in Hamilton has reacted positively to the change, understanding that it can bring them savings too.

Chris Haswell is the project manager for Naylor Love, the firm building the new Blood Donor Centre in central Hamilton.