STRATEGY

THE EVOLVING ROLES OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR IN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
Paddy Gresham
The private sector and the public sector have both had a long involvement in solid waste management, internationally and in New Zealand. In the 19th Century and for most of the 20th Century, the role of the public sector in solid waste management grew. It was involved
both in the regulation of waste and the provision of waste services.
In recent years the role of the private sector in the provision of waste services, including the disposal of wastes has increased substantially. At the same time the role of the public sector in providing waste services has declined. This change in roles is an evolving process.
The paper explores some of these issues and provides pointers to how these might be addressed.

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WORKING TOGETHER : THE REGAL WASTE STRATEGY FOR TARANAKI
Nikki Lawrence
Taranaki’s Regional Waste Management Forum has prepared and is implementing a Regional Waste Strategy by which the region’s local authorities will together achieve efficiencies and meet mutually agreed targets that deliver waste management policy in Taranaki.
This paper describes the collaborative participation of all Taranaki’s local authorities in the preparation of the Startegy and its adoption by the regional council and three district councils as the key to the successful implementation of the Regional Waste Strategy for Taranaki.

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PACKAGING ACCORD - MARK II - MORE PLAYERS, MORE GRUNT, MORE EXPECTED...
John Webber
Draft ACCORD 2004 differs significantly from the original. The fundamental differences between the commitment of the earlier accord and the second are:

1. The need to relate the activities of the packaged goods
   industry to the New Zealand Waste Strategy, released
   in 2002, and
2. To extend the ACCORD to actively include enterprises
   within the industry that historically had contributed
   lesser roles e.g. brand owners and retailers.

There are specific expectations of extended producer responsibility as well as a commitment to product stewardship. All sectors of the community including consumers have a fundamental role to play in minimising the adverse effects of packaging waste and there is a specific expectation that there will be opportunities to achieve this objective.

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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENTAND RESOURCE EFFICIENCY - SIDE BY SIDE ON THE
SUPPLY CHAIN
Chris Natapu, Jim Watt + Greg Brown
Accessing small and medium sized companies in New Zealand with the express purpose of improving their resource efficiency and overall environmental performance is challenging. A lack of resources and time, plus a myriad of production or compliance related priorities push resource efficiency down the to-do list for many businesses.
Working within a supply chain can introduce a direct market incentive to suppliers where a large business is willing to influence suppliers’ environmental performance.
This paper provides a preliminary report for a supply chain project that has directly coupled an environmental management system with resource efficiency. Enviro- Mark®NZ breaks the equivalent of the full EMS into a series of 5 successive steps, so that a business can select a level of accreditation most appropriate to its nature and size.

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CONTAMINATED SITES 1

LESSONS FROM EUROPE IN CONTAMINATED SITES ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
Ben Keet

OVERVIEW OF THE APPLICATION OF SOIL NUMERIC VALUES IN INTERNATIONAL
CONTAMINATED LAND MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS
Jo-Anne Cavanagh, Simon Buckland, David Clancey + Kathryn O’Halloran
Soil numeric values represent concentrations of contaminants in soil that are protective of human health and/or the environment and are frequently used to streamline the management of contaminated sites.
The values determined for use in different countries differ with the legislative and political framework of contaminated site management of individual countries, and also reflect the differences in the scientific and philosophical approach to methodologies used to derive
numeric values. Although some soil numeric values are available in industry-based guidelines published by the Ministry for the Environment (for example, timber treatment guidelines), a national methodology for the derivation of generic numeric values for soil contaminants is currently lacking in New Zealand. However, in order to develop an appropriate derivation methodology it is necessary to understand how New Zealand would apply these numeric values within any contaminated land management framework.
This paper provides an overview of the application and derivation of soil numeric values within contaminated soil management frameworks of the Netherlands, UK, Denmark, Germany, Canada, US, and Australia, and examines the options for New Zealand under currently existing legislation.

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CLOSED LANDFILLS IN CHRISTCHURCH CIT Y : INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AT ENVIRONMENT CANTERBURY
Emma O’Neill, Dave Clancey, Helen Davies + Frances Adank
Environment Canterbury holds information on more than 100 closed landfill sites within Christchurch City. Many of these sites have been subdivided and now accommodate
residential, commercial and industrial properties.
Because of the inclusion of landfills on the Hazardous Activities and Industries List (HAIL), all these sites need to be identified, verified, and registered on Environment Canterbury’s Listed Land Use Register. This paper reports on the initial stages of this process, including information collection and verification. Possible future work including site ranking, owner notification, and hand augering on sites is discussed.

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PLANNING

PUTTING THE RESOURCE INTO RESOURCEFUL : WASTE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Jan Burbery
Are our district plans supporting waste management plan objectives as well as they could? Are they inadvertently throwing up barriers? Are there opportunities we should be exploring to improve things? These questions arose during my investigation into the siting of waste facilities in multi-unit developments and, to a lesser extent, the siting of composting facilities.
This paper presents some personal observations and ideas made along the way, looks at some opportunities and barriers to achieving waste reduction and efficient resource use, and poses some questions in the hope of stimulating debate about future planning and the support that district and regional plans could play. The paper also suggests that “we” in waste need to be talking to “them” in planning to better promote resource efficiency.

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BEYOND RECYCLING - THE FUTURE OF WASTE MANAGEMENT IN NORTH SHORE CITY
Michelle Kaczor + Graham Jones
In 1990 North Shore City Council was the first district council in New Zealand to introduce a city-wide kerbside recycling system and a full user-pays rubbish service. Kerbside recycling services divert from landfill approximately 40% of the household waste stream.
Despite our efforts in recent years to further reduce waste to landfill through outreach and education programmes and through economic disincentives, there has been only a nominal reduction of household waste to landfill.
The Council’s current waste collection contracts are due to expire in June 2005. New service agreements present a major strategic opportunity to introduce improvement and innovation. Toward this end the Council recently conducted an organic waste collection and co-mingled
recycling collection in wheelie bins. This paper discusses the waste services review and the challenges facing Council as it moves beyond recycling.

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WASTE REDUCTION THROUGH LATERAL THINKING
Ian Challenger
In 1998, with waste production increasing, Kaikoura District Council adopted zero waste and in partnership with Wastebusters Kaikoura sort to reduce waste and increase recycling. Recycling initially diverted 30% of waste but progress was slow and in 2000, with the contract for the landfill being tendered, the solution proposed by one contractor was to dig a deeper hole!
Kaikoura District Council and Wastebusters Kaikoura approached the problem from an alternative angle and together established a charitable company – Innovative Waste Kaikoura – which is now attaining close to 61% diversion. Achieving this has been made all the more difficult due to the rapid growth in tourist numbers and increased development resulting in waste generation rising by 10% annually.
Attainment of the first 61% diversion is testament to the initiative of Innovative Waste Kaikoura, but achieving the final 39% will depend on rethinking every aspect of recycling and waste management.
This paper will examine how Kaikoura’s successful approach to diverting waste from landfill has depended on creativity and ingenuity. It will look at how through lateral thinking and questioning every approach Innovative Waste Kaikoura attained the first 61%; investigate the impact the increase in tourists is having on waste production, and consider how projects such as Trees for Travellers and Green Globe 21 will ensure that the final 39% is attained.

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WASTE MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT IN THE MALDIVES
John Cocks, Stephen Akester, Norman Oakley + Shafee Mohamed
The Republic of Maldives is situated south of India, between 7º north and 0.5º south. It comprises some 1,200 atoll islands of which 200 are inhabited by approximately 300,000 people. The Maldives is an Islamic state. These days the Maldives is popularly know
as a nation of emerald, tropical islands that beckon those in search of an idyllic holiday. Its history is long, dating back two millenia or more.
In 2000, the Government initiated the first regional development project, funded by the Asian Development bank and the Islamic Development Bank. The object was to make institutional, infrastructure and environmental improvements in two regions distant from the centrally located capital, Male. These are the northern region is centred on the island of Kulhudhuffushi and the southern region in Addu Atoll on the islands of Hithadhoo, Feydhoo
and Maradhoo, which are connected by causeways.
The infrastructural development comprised solid waste management facilities, a pilot sewerage scheme and a new road that included causeways and bridges designed to improve water flow into the atoll. This paper focuses on the solid waste management and pilot sewerage scheme aspects of the project.

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CONTAMINATED SITES 2

MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR CONTAMINATED SHEEP DIP SITES
Presenters : Nola Babbage + Graham McBride

KINLEITH INTEGRATED REMEDIATION PROJECT (KIRP) - AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO DEALING WITH A LEGACY OF HISTORICAL CONTAMINATION
Ian Davies, Tony Bryce, Tony Cussins
Carter Holt Harvey has utilized a number of sites on land to the south of the Kinleith Industrial Park for the disposal of various wastes associated with the processing and treatment of timber.
The Kinleith Integrated Remediation Project (KIRP) is a pro-active programme for the rehabilitation of these sites which involves:

• the relocation of the contaminated shavings to a
  disused quarry (known as the ‘Sprinkler Quarry’);
• the remediation and rehabilitation of existing
  hazardous waste sites; and
• the construction of a fully engineered containment
  cell to receive various intractable wastes, specifically
  pentachlorophenol (PCP) contaminated soil.

KIRP is viewed as providing a sustainable solution which provides a ‘one-off’ opportunity for Carter Holt Harvey to deal with the legacy of these historical residues by consolidating wastes from several sites and locations in a single, secure, repository on Company-owned land.

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EVALUATION OF FUNGAL- BASED REMEDIATION FOR TREATMENT OF A PCP/DIOXIN /FURAN CONTAMINATED SOIL FROM SEVERAL FORMER WOOD TREATING FACILITIES IN NZ
Dr Richard Lamar, Richard White, Roberta Farrell, Joanne Thwaites, Ian Davies + Alan Blair
Fungal-based soil remediation uses the pollutantdegrading abilities of a group of wood decay fungi referred to as white-rot fungi.
Accordingly, suitable New Zealand strains of white rot species that possess pollutant-degrading abilities can potentially be used to degrade chlorinated organic compounds - for instance, to treat pentachlorophenol (PCP) contaminated soil.
In early 2003, following almost 2 years of laboratory research, Carter Holt Harvey, the University of Waikato and EarthFax formed a collaborative venture to scale up a fungal-based soil remediation technology from the laboratory scale. This work has been undertaken at a facility on Carter Holt Harvey’s Kinleith Industrial Park.

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COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE OF MONITORED NATURAL ATTENUATION OF CONTAMINATED SITES IN NZ
Hamish Wilson + Keith Delamore
Following the decommissioning of an Auckland petrol station, petrol and diesel product remained in the ground and groundwater beneath the site. An application was made for a resource consent under the Resource Management Act (RMA, 1991) to manage the ongoing
discharge of contaminants to ground and groundwater without the requirement for active remediation.
A lengthy consultation process took place and the following issues were raised:

• Issues/concerns raised by the consulted parties were
  generally related to legal liability associated with
  the petroleum plume rather than human health or
  environmental risk
• The consultation process provides increased risk for
  the Applicant in terms of timeframe and cost for
  resource consent applications
• Support from regulatory authorities with respect to
  technical issues is a key component of the consultation
  process

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PROGRAMMES

REDUCE YOUR RUBBISH - LESSONS FROM THIS PILOT NATIONWIDE CAMPAIGN
Ket Bradshaw
Impetus for the national “Reduce Your Rubbish” campaign was provided by the release of ‘The New Zealand Waste Strategy’ in March 2002, which called for the implementation of a long-term public education and information programme. This first public manifestation of
the NZ Waste Strategy has valuable lessons for the Waste Management Institutes’ Lifeafterwaste initiative.
This innovative pilot campaign was co-funded by regional councils and the Ministry for the Environment and ran from April-July, 2003. With the underlying message “Rubbish- it doesn’t go away” the campaign aimed to personalise rubbish and help householders to take some simple and positive actions. National messages were backed up with support and services on the ground provided by territorial local authorities and business partners.
Campaign communications included television commercials, an 0800 number, print media, events, and an online competition, the “Reduce Your Rubbish Household Challenge”. The campaign website provided links to local services.
Research shows the national “pilot” campaign has had a significant effect on promoting awareness and action to reduce rubbish. Twenty percent of the population say the campaign had a positive effect on their awareness, attitudes or behaviour.

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SUSTAINABLE HOUSEHOLDS - CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK OF AND USE OUR RESOURCES
Annie McDonald
The Sustainable Households pilot programme began as an idea at an environmental education conference four years ago.
Many involved in waste minimization and education were active in schools and with businesses and industries.
Increasingly there were requests for information from householders about ways they could make a positive difference to the environment.
A group of Councils got together and put an application into the Sustainable Management fund to trial an education based facilitated programme to interested householders in regions around the country.
A number of methods are being trialled from facilitated groups, to night school classes, work-study groups and open workshops.

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LIFE WITH WASTE - COMMUNITY RECYCLING ENTERPRISES MOVE FORWARD TO ZERO WASTE
Susa Kupa
The community of Raglan formed Xtreme Waste Inc. in 2000. In July of that year the Society successfully tendered for the contract with Waikato District Council to manage
Raglan’s solid waste stream. Since then Xtreme Waste and the community of Raglan have together diverted 70% of its waste from landfill.
ThIs paper will cover just some of the benefits a Community Recycling Programme provides. Using multimedia tools it will include audio and visual illustrations outlining some of the communication and education strategies Xtreme Waste has implemented to assist with its successes. It will illustrate how and why recycling is more viable than landfill, including quadruple bottom line accounting. As well it will reveal some of the challenges faced by community groups and perceptions projected onto them by local authorities and businesses.

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GETTING THE MESSAGE ACROSS FOR WASTE REDUCTION
Jasmine Poole + Jeff Seadon
In mid 2001, Auckland City’s water and wastewater utility, Metrowater Ltd. made a decision to embark on a programme to reduce the amount of office waste it was producing while gaining information about the Company’s waste stream composition. The information gathered included the quantities and types of solid waste being produced. The programme demonstrated how well various waste minimisation measures worked to reduce waste
output and increase the staff’s environmental awareness.
The office staff at Metrowater, numbered approximately 100. During the period of the research, staff were actively encouraged to consider re-use and reduction options, and
to participate in new and existing recycling schemes.
An overall solid waste reduction of 37% (by mass) was achieved over the length of the programme with the office paper portion reducing from over 65% to 9% of the solid waste produced. At the conclusion of the 15 audits, 30 to 35 kg less office waste, and 10 - 12 kg less cafeteria waste were being disposed of per week, amounting to a nearly 2.5 tonne annual solid waste reduction for the company. Results were checked by a follow-up audit 3
months after the conclusion of the project, which showed the reduction in waste was sustained.
Key findings of the research pointed to the importance of streamlining office processes and procedures and improving the lines of communication between different staff groups to achieve future waste-reduction targets.
This paper examines the processes that were used to achieve these results and analyses the methods chosen.

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CONTAMINATED SITES 3

ACCOUNTING FOR THE POTENTIAL AND ACTUAL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH ENVIRONMENT CANTERBURY’S PEST DEPOTS AND OTHER SITES
Guy Knoyle + Helen Davies
The Financial Reporting Standard No. 15 (Financial Reporting Act 1993) applies to all general purpose financial reports in accounting for provisions, contingent liabilities and contingent assets. To meet its obligations within this standard that relate to Environment Canterbury’s land, Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd was engaged to undertake a preliminary environmental investigation (Stage 1) of 33 properties to assess potential contamination issues.
Information gathered from site occupiers/owners, ECan’s databases and other sources was used to complete a rapid hazard assessment system (RHAS) appraisal. The RHAS results were used to categorise, into three groups, each site according to the potential risk posed to the receiving environment. Twenty of the 33 sites were considered to have a potentially high environmental risk. Exposure pathways and requirements for additional site-specific
information were identified. Specific investigative works were then undertaken according to the type of land use at a selection of the potentially affected sites (Stage 2).

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OFF - SITE AQUATIC IMPACTS FROM LAND CONTAMINATED BY HISTORICAL PESTICIDE USE
Bruce Williamson, Geoff Mills, Eddie Grogan, Sharon Vujnovich, Mary Manastyrski
Historical use of pesticides may continue to pose a risk to off-site aquatic ecosystems long after their use has stopped.
Persistent pesticides such as copper and DDT accumulate in soils and can be transported by runoff into streams and estuaries, where they accumulate in sediments. Aquatic life could be at risk from this sediment contamination.
A desk-top assessment predicted that copper and, more particularly, organochlorine pesticides (e.g. DDTs, dieldrin), could pose a risk to streams draining horticultural land.
Corroboration was sought from measurements of pesticides in a small Auckland headwater stream system draining land with a long history of horticulture and viticulture.
The field study showed that Cu posed only minor, localized, risk to the stream ecosystem. However, DDT levels in stream sediments were high enough to potentially cause adverse
effects on aquatic life. Improved understanding of the ecological effects of DDT-contaminated sediments in NZ’s aquatic ecosystems is required.

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SOME THOUGHTS ON THE REDEVELOPMENT OF FORMER ORCHARD LAND FOR RESIDENTIAL USE
Graeme Proffitt
The redevelopment of former agricultural and horticultural land on the fringes of some of our urban areas has been challenging landowners and regulatory authorities alike.
On the one hand there is a need to protect human health and the environment from any agrichemical residues within the soil, while on the other, there is a need to not unreasonably restrict the recycling of land from one beneficial use to another. By default regulatory
authorities have been using a conservative mixture of national and international guidelines, derived for different objectives within the originating jurisdiction – sometimes protection of human health and sometimes protection of ecological receptors. This mixture of guidelines can give rise to confused outcomes, with no underpinning consistent philosophy. There is a danger that excessive investigation, remediation and monitoring requirements may be imposed on redevelopment proposals, causing unnecessary expenditure on the part of the landowner or developer. In the extreme, redevelopment may be made uneconomic, with no particular environmental benefit accruing.
Particular issues have arisen with determining appropriate factors defining the risk posed by homegrown produce and the lack of a guideline for DDT that is consistent with other New Zealand guidelines. Both these issues are explored, with the conclusion that the current 50%
homegrown produce scenario that currently tends to be applied for the residential situation is too conservative. A 10% homegrown produce scenario is more appropriate.
A new DDT guideline is also derived based on the Timber Treatment Guideline methodology, with values for the two scenarios of 8 and 25 mg/kg, respectively.

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BIOTECH

COMPOSTING CRAZY - A REVIEW OF THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE AND LESSONS LEARNED
FROM THE UK
Dr Linda Wright
It is evident that European Directive 99/31/EC is having a significant impact on the way in which wastes are currently managed in the UK. The Directive prohibits the landfilling of whole and shredded tyres, clinical and liquid wastes and the co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, however it is the provisions relating to the landfilling of the biodegradable portion of municipal solid waste that is having the greatest impact.
In order to achieve the specified targets the UK requires a range of alternative and more sustainable waste management options with the primary focus on composting options and technologies.
The UK composting rate has shown an unprecedented increase over recent years, however this is marginal compared to the order of magnitude increase that is needed to meet the Landfill Directive targets. Innovation in composting technologies is rapidly evolving in the UK
and local authorities face a range of options from which to choose.
This paper will provide a generic overview of the various compost processes and technologies employed in the UK.
It will also discuss the lessons learned in optimising process efficiency and product quality through improved feedstock control and monitoring of composting parameters. Detailed
information will also be provided with regards to capital cost, retention time, capacity, environmental monitoring, and temperature profiles of various new and emerging composting technologies.

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REMOVING THE ROADBLOCKS TO THE BENEFICIAL USE OF ORGANIC WASTE
Chris Purchas
Organic wastes make up around 30 % of the total landfilled waste stream (over 45% for domestic waste).
In a landfill environment biodegradable wastes are anaerobically broken down to form a variety of products including methane and leachate. The diversion of organic waste to beneficial use represents a significant opportunity to reduce the quantity of waste disposed of to landfill and the generation of methane.
The Ministry for the Environment is working with industry and local government to remove the roadblocks to the beneficial use of organic waste. Key projects include supporting an application to ERMA for a reassessment of the herbicide Clopyralid, research into contaminants present in sewage effluent and biosolids and considering options for facilitating beneficial use through the climate change policy package. Other initiatives of significance include the New Zealand Water and Wastes Association Guidelines for the Safe Application of Biosolids to Land and industry sponsored work towards compost standards covering raw material, processing and quality.

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RECENT DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOTROT TECHNOLOGY - A LARGE IN-VESSEL COMPOSTING SYSTEM
Lawrence Boul
The HotRot continuous composting system is a horizontal vessel with active agitation and aeration by an axial, tinebearing shaft. Active agitation reduces the dependence of the process on inherent porosity, eliminates edge effects and ensures even treatment. Units are modular, and this facilitates construction of appropriately sized plant. HotRot modules have nominal capacities between 1 and 10 tonnes of waste per day.
The technology is established at small scale treating sewage treatment plant primary screenings. This paper summarises recent experience on other wastes and presents data from the first large scale plant at Bromley sewage treatment works.
Any composting process is highly dependent on the properties of the feedstock. Water content, physical structure and chemical composition all need to be considered. The goal is to ensure that microbial activity in the composting waste is sufficient to achieve sustained
heating. Experiences in pilot studies on the behaviour of a number of wastes in a HotRot system will be outlined.
The Bromley installation involved scale up from units constructed from steel, to a unit with a modular pre-cast concrete hull with 4-5 times the capacity. The scale up and change of materials raised numerous performance questions. Initial data from this plant will be presented.

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CURRENT ISSUES IN SOURCE SEPARATION, TREATMENT AND UTILISATION OF FOOD
RESIDUALS
Ian Mason + Mark Milke
Current issues in the management of urban food residuals relating to source separation, waste stabilisation options, product utilisation, risk management and decision making are reviewed. Source separation is increasingly seen internationally as a key component in sustainable food residuals management strategies, with a number of behavioural studies reported. However, there is a pressing need for local research, as little information relating
directly to New Zealand society has been published.
Composting is a mature technology for organic residuals stabilisation and is being actively considered for food residuals treatment in several parts of New Zaland.
Anaerobic digestion is now an increasingly favoured food residuals stabilisation technology worldwide, with the prospect of significant nett energy production and a quality solid product. Important current issues in treating organic residuals include odour management and the
disinfection of pathogens. In this respect, the relative roles of and required degrees of process control needed for, anaerobic digestion and composting require further study. Stabilised product utilisation is discussed, with particular reference to the emerging interest in producing a range of environmentally beneficial products. Aspects of risk analysis and decision-making in selecting appropriate sustainable systems for food residuals management in New Zealand are outlined.

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CASE STUDIES

MINIMISATION OF SOLID WASTE IN THE CHRISTCHURCH PAPER PRINTING INDUSTRY
Fiona Cox + Scott Wilson
In 2001 Pattle Delamore Partners Ltd undertook a review of the Christchurch paper printing industry’s current waste minimisation practices and the types of wastes they are disposing of to landfill. The aim of the review was to identify ways in which the printers could reduce
the volume of waste entering the landfill.
The provision of best practice guidelines and information sharing about recycling options, combined with individual site visits has proven to be an effective strategy to achieve implementation of waste minimisation within the paper printing industry.

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SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF FARM PLASTIC WASTE - LOCAL AND OVERSEAS INITIATIVES
Sandy Scarrow
The post consumer management of plastics used in primary production (mainly HDPE agrichemical containers and LDPE silage wrap) has presented problems for farmers and growers in New Zealand.
A project, facilitated by the New Zealand Agrichemical Education Trust and funded by the Sustainable Management Fund and others, has been set up to determine appropriate strategies for the management of this waste stream in New Zealand.
This paper covers outputs from the first year of the project. Year one focused on researching the issue. The research was set up to ensure that any systems established in New Zealand
would be informed by lessons of other initiatives, both past and present, also that the system was both environmentally and economically sustainable in the long term.

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LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT OF MANAGEMENT OPTIONS FOR WASTE FARM PLASTICS
Laurence Dolan
This study, commissioned by the New Zealand Agrichemical Education Trust and funded by the Sustainable Management Fund and others, is a Life Cycle Assessment of five options
for the management of the two predominant types of waste farm plastics (HDPE chemical containers and LDPE film) compared with the status quo. The waste management options are:

• on farm burial
• on farm burning
• drop-off at collection facility for recycling
• drop-off at transfer station for landfilling
• drop-off at transfer station for incineration and energy
  recovery

Two regions (Hawkes Bay and Canterbury) were used as case study areas. For these areas farm and horticultural unit numbers, plastic quantities, transport distances and transfer
and disposal facilities were determined.
Published data was used to obtain quantitative information for on-farm scenarios. The WISARD Life Cycle Assessment for Waste Management software tool was used to model
the off-farm management scenarios.
The life cycle assessment indicated that recycling of waste farm plastics into products as a replacement for virgin plastic has environmental benefits when compared to other options, and the mix of options currently used by farmers in New Zealand. The benefits are principally due to avoided environmental burdens that result from the use of recycled
plastic rather than virgin plastic.

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF PACKAGING : GUILTY OR NOT GUILTY
Britta Meltzer
Packaging plays an indispensable role in modern society.
It allows a multitude of goods to reach the consumer undamaged, safe, in a hygienic condition and with important brand and product information. Without packaging, it would simply not be possible for people and industry to use most of the products that exist today.
Consumers in both the southern and northern hemisphere recognise the functional aspects of packaging, but they feel very differently about packaging when purchasing goods.
This paper explores the reasoning behind this difference in opinion, what it means for New Zealand, and attempts to develop options for dealing with packaging (waste).

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HAZARDOUS WASTE

MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS WASTES IN NZ
Deborah Mills + John Handiside
We will have just completed a performance audit into the management of hazardous waste covering both central and local government. Our report is nearly ready to table in Parliament.
We looked at how the job is supposed to be done by examining the legislation. Then we looked at what is actually being done by talking to the agencies and people with powers and duties to do things with hazardous waste across the country. And we examined many documents. We then surveyed all regional councils and territorial authorities (with a 100% response rate) to confirm or otherwise our main findings.
Overall we found that hazardous waste is not managed well, and we will say why we came to that conclusion. We will also indicate the recommendations we have made to improve the situation.

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COSTING / FUNDING

A METHOD FOR PRELIMINARY COST COMPARISON OF RESIDUAL WASTE DISPOSAL AT A NEW IN - DISTRICT LANDFILL VERSUS DISPOSAL AT ANOTHER LANDFILL
Phil Landmark
Territorial Local Authorities (TLAs) are facing more stringent environmental controls and associated increasing waste disposal costs. For TLAs the decision of whether to go through the process of finding a landfill site, obtaining resource consents for it, developing and operating it, or to look to other service providers for disposal facilities is a complex issue.
MWH has assisted a number of TLAs to evaluate options for the disposal of residual waste. Drawing on the results of modelling waste management systems and by making assumptions for the transfer of waste, a method has been developed that enables a preliminary cost comparison to be made between the option of establishing a TLA-owned and operated landfill and that of disposing waste at a landfill operated by others.
The paper illustrates the use of the method by working through the real example of a provincial TLA that is currently faced with this very question.

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AN EQUITY FUND FOR SUSTAINING RECOVERED MATERIAL BUSINESSES
Robert Kornfeld + Robert Rogers
The demand for and process of development of an equity fund to bring to market promising business ideas that will result in products diverting materials from the waste stream will be explored. NZRMET has been making seed money loans to such businesses for five years, which has resulted in the development of a number of successful and sustainable business concepts.
However, there have recently been an increasing number of such projects which would require a more substantial infusion of financing to move to the next level of a successful operation.
Potential sources of funding will be discussed and evaluated, looking at the demand for such investment vehicles from philanthropists and financial planners with clients interested
in investing in New Zealand owned sustainable development ventures and “ethical investment” opportunities.

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LIFEAFTERWASTE ASSESSMENT [LAWA] AS A CONTRAST TO LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT [LCA]
Per Nielsen
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a cradle-to-grave assessment tool for evaluating and especially comparing environmental impacts or environmental benefits of various products or
services. The LCA approach has its focus on the production and manufacturing processes and impacts from the life time use of a product or service. In many ways the assessment
of a product’s end-off-life is not very detailed in an LCA.
The paper tries to look at waste as a waste “product” or “a waste product”, which can have many different beneficial uses. This is in contrast to the LCA approach.
An LCA is based on comparing a number of raw material streams, which are used to manufacture one product (one product only), whereas in the Life After Waste Assessment
(LAWA) – different products are compared, which are all manufactured from one raw material stream – the waste product.

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CASESTUDIES

750 BIRDS WITH ONE STONE - TARGETING MULTI -TENANTED OFFICE BUILDINGS
Sam Bridgman + Laine Phillips
In 2002 Christchurch City Council’s Target Zero team facilitated a waste minimisation programme at the multitenanted PriceWaterhouseCooper Centre in Christchurch. A
tenant led group designed and implemented a building wide recycling system that resulted in an annual diversion from landfill of 18.6 tonnes of recyclables.
This paper looks at the successful implementation of the PriceWaterhouseCooper Centre programme and identifies lessons that can be applied by councils and other groups
that are interested in setting up building wide waste minimisation programmes.
Working with all the tenants in a building reduces the resources required by both businesses and councils, and allows councils to meet waste reduction targets while still assisting small business. Programme design and implementation is crucial to its success. Councils should take a facilitation role rather than leading the programme, and involve tenants throughout the process to build a leadership group. Setting up the waste minimisation programme in
this way helps ensure the programme continues after the involvement of the council.

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AT THE COALFACE : TRYING TO TURN WASTES INTO RESOURCES
Warwick Giblin
Zero Waste is a seductive concept. How does a longstanding waste management company respond to this community driver?
The paper provides an insight into how Waste Management NZ Ltd, is grappling with new government policy and community desires to minimise waste and recover materials for beneficial re-use. It canvasses:

• How the organisational culture is changing
• Tangible new actions being taken by the organisation to
  address the new agenda (eg KPI’s, public reporting, etc)
• Some examples of what is being done to recover
  materials
• Issues and challenges confronting the business as it
  strives to do more
• Suggestions for what could help in the delivery of even
  more effective national waste reduction and resource
  recovery.

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GUIDELINES FOR THE SAFE APPLICATION OF BIOSOLIDS TO LAND IN NEW ZEALAND
Len Clapham
For a number of years now the New Zealand Waste industry has been seeking to have new guidelines for the safe application of Biosolids to land in New Zealand.
These guidelines are a precursor to national environmental standards for biosolids in New Zealand.
The guidelines have been produced as a joint initiative of the wastewater industry, central and local government and other key stakeholders. A broad range of views has been
canvassed during their development. But these guidelines are just the starting point. The Ministry is looking at developing a national environmental standard for biosolids that will provide even more certainty for the wastewater industry, thereby encouraging further investment and development in this area.

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'WHERE THE METAL MEETS THE ROAD’ - A PATHWAY TO SUSTAINABLE SMELTING
Anthony Butcher
Sustainable Development means many things to many people. As part of Comalco, NZAS follows the widely understood definition of sustainable development as“ Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs”.
Reducing waste and improving resource efficiency, is just one of six themes NZAS has identified as part of the complex challenge which describes sustainable development. It is
NZAS’ belief that there can be no legacy left from storing waste for others to treat. A full inventory of materials, including those intended for on-site landfill and those sent offsite for recycling and disposal is being completed.
Some areas, such as paper recycling, where the logistics of making it work and maintainable on a large isolated industrial plant are large – becomes essentially a “just do”.
Others involve more technically challenging approaches. Six Sigma - is a management philosophy of setting high objectives, collecting data and analysing results to reduce
inefficiencies in products and services. NZAS is implementing this management tool to help tackle the challenges of improvement waste efficiency and establishing sustainable
solutions.

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COLLECTION / DISPOSAL

YOU WANT US TO MONITOR FOR WHAT ? AND FOR HOW LONG ?
Matthew Eyer, David Nelson + John Faurie
While groundwater quality monitoring at closed landfills is an acknowledged necessity, the methods, components and cycles of monitoring are often hotly debated. Nowhere is this
more evident than in the requirements for the monitoring of surface water and groundwater at closed landfills.
The monitoring of landfills is necessary to confirm that they are performing in accordance with design, operational and regulatory requirements. However, the cost implications of
regular monitoring and analysis can prove to be enormous.
In an effort to minimise costs and maximize benefits, Waitakere City Council and Environmental and Earth Sciences Limited have created an effective monitoring regime based on the monitoring of leachate indicators. The regime was created after a thorough review of ten years of data obtained from water and leachate quality monitoring undertaken at the Kay Road Balefill, and is currently be utilised by Waitakere City to monitor closed landfills requiring resource consents.
It is hoped that this paper will assist operators, consultants and regulators in taking a more efficient and pragmatic approach to the monitoring of closed landfill sites.

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ARE BAGS BETTER? BALANCING SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Shane Burke
It is necessary for both Local Authorities and Waste Contractors to examine the sustainability of practices in relation to domestic waste collection in New Zealand.
Council domestic waste collections in New Zealand are primarily a bag collection service using rear load compactors.
A few councils provide Mobile Garbage Bin service as do private waste collection operators.
Bag collections are notorious for presenting health and safety risks to waste collectors. Bags provide no protection to the waste collector from unseen, inadequately wrapped sharp objects and from the repetitive manual lifting required.
The competitiveness of the industry exacerbates the latter risk as companies attempt to maximise productivity.
Recent legislative amendments combined with the need to improve health and safety performance is forcing companies and whole industries to re-examine work practices. In
addition, there is an increasing focus on the role of the principal’s responsibilities in relation to contracted services.

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NEW WASTE ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA FOR CLASS A LANDFILLS
Laurence Dolan, Ian Jenkins + Glenn Wigley
This paper describes a project carried out to develop landfill waste acceptance criteria (LWAC) for constituents additional to those on the USEPA TCLP list. The criteria developed are intended for use at Class A landfills.
Following consideration of a number of approaches used, or proposed, by selected jurisdictions to develop leachable and/or total concentration limits for LWAC, it was recommended that threshold concentrations for new constituents be derived using a risk based approach, with a generic landfill (Class A) and constituent specific dilution and attentuation factors.
Selection of additional constituents was based on the potential to adversely affect human health and the aquatic environment.
Modelling was used to derive leachability limits for a range of mobile organic and inorganic constituents through back calculation from environmental criteria using a model landfill cell and conservative assumption in respect of discharge rates and underlying geology.

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EXPERIMENTS IN PYROLYSIS OF NON - PUTRESCIBLE WASTES
Paul Mesman, Stephen Manson, Paul Middlewood + Dr Gillian Worth
While composting can be used for putrescible wastes and recycling is suitable for many non-putrescibles, some intractable wastes still remain for land-filling. One process that may be used for recovering materials from non-putrescibles is pyrolysis. Experiments were carried
out on four materials (disposable napkins, CCA-treated timber, tyres and polyethylene film) in a laboratory-scale cell in a batch process using a slow temperature ramp.
The maximum temperature and operating pressure were varied (from 350°C – 700°C and 1 kPa – 1000 kPa absolute) to determine their effect on the yield and composition of the residue, condensate and gas. Typical values for conversion to liquid and gas were 77% for
napkins, 72% for treated timber, 52% for tyres (steel included) and 99.5% for polyethylene. From the analyses it was concluded that the best use for the condensate was as a liquid fuel feedstock. The work confirmed the technical viability of a simple pyrolysis process for
resource recovery from some non-putrescible wastes.

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PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

COMPUTER POWER AND PEOPLE POWER IN WASTE MANAGEMENT DECISION MAKING :
SOFTWARE SYSTEMS & PUBLIC PARTICIPATION METHODOLOGIES
Peter Shmigel
Based on the Australian experience, and a review of international practice, the paper will present a model for using both software and “human-ware” in waste management system decision-making. It will demonstrate how software-based decision support systems can
be combined with pro-active community consultative methods to achieve optimal waste management planning and strategy outcomes. The model has the potential to get more positive community involvement in waste management and resource recovery and to address the challenges of so-called NIMBYism.
This paper provides examples where software-based decision support tools have been developed to assist Australian waste management decision makers in the assessment of waste management systems and technologies. The tools can be applied both at a strategic
level and at a more detailed assessment level.
The paper will use several case studies from the Australian experience to illustrate that authorities that promote public participation in waste management decisionmaking
- including through the use of software tools - can actually achieve outcomes with greater legitimacy, improved technical competency and reduced risk.

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STREET CRED : WASTE AUDITS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Warwick Jaine + Bruce Middleton
The scale of the waste contracts managed by the Auckland City, and the need to monitor the targets in its Waste Management Plan, have led to waste analysis becoming an integral component of council’s waste management process. Council has incorporated waste audits into new refuse collection and disposal contracts to ensure regular waste stream monitoring becomes the norm. The resulting data have been used for a range of applications by council.
To assist the council, a series of innovative waste audits has been undertaken by Waste Not Consulting. This paper examines the background issues, the audit methodologies, key results, and data applications for four waste streams:

• the kerbside inorganic refuse collection
• the kerbside recycling collection
• the inner central business district kerbside bagged
  refuse
• the residential isthmus mobile garbage bin collection.

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REVERSE SENSITIVITY - DOES THE ‘NUISANCE’ HAVE ANY RIGHTS ?
Carla Wilson
When first heard the phrase “reverse sensitivity” sounds like an oxymoron. Instead it’s a controversial approach that will become increasingly important and integrated into planning
as development pressures drive conflicting industrial and sensitive land uses closer together.
In New Zealand the approach taken by consent authorities has been that industrial facilities must internalise their environmental effects within their boundaries. This approach is fine in principle, however, full internalisation of effects, cannot be guaranteed 100% of the time by such activities.
This approach by consent authorities has meant that people who build next door to a “nuisance” have expected that no existing activities will affect the enjoyment of their new
property. There is little consideration given to why the preexisting “ nuisance” decided to build in that location in the first place.
This paper examines the phrase reverse sensitivity and considers how it can be applied to the waste industry.

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EFFECTS BASED ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING - POLITICS, SCIENCE AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
Emma Ross
Environmental monitoring is an important aspect of the management of waste disposal and management facilities.
As a tool it can detect inadequacies in the operational management of a site, provide an early warning of potential contamination, and detect contamination events.
Monitoring requirements are set by local authorities as conditions in resource consents. Currently the approach throughout the country in setting these monitoring requirements is inconsistent.
A consistent approach to the setting of environmental monitoring resource consent conditions is necessary to ensure that high environmental standards are achieved.
However, it is not appropriate that this approach be based on prescriptive consent conditions. Prescriptive conditions do not look at the environmental effects of individual activities in specific locations, and may not provide the appropriate level of monitoring. Monitoring requirements should be site specific and based on information such as location, geology, construction, operation, waste type and volume. To ensure that a high level of environmental standards is achieved at waste disposal facilities a consistent approach is needed to assess the effects of activities. Consent conditions must be based on this consistent approach.
This paper compares environmental monitoring conditions for selected landfills from different regions in New Zealand, and will attempt to demonstrate the inconsistent approach
to the setting of the conditions.

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