WasteMINZ invites you to collaborate and brainstorm with others from across the industry, to identify barriers and develop solutions to key industry challenges. 

When: Thursday, 24 November, 9am-5.30pm
Where: Novotel Auckland Airport
Cost: $450+GST for WasteMINZ members; $675+GST for non-members. 

Who should attend? 

Anyone from the waste, resource recovery and contaminated land management sectors who would like to collaborate with others to identify solutions. 


You can see an agenda of the day here


How will it work?

· We’ll kick off with a keynote from Juhi Shareef (see info below), co-founder of Project:Moonshot,  on the circular economy and key trends for Aotearoa.

· From there, our brainstorms will begin. (Think speed dating, but with stimulating conversation about key industry challenges!)

· There will be 18 different tables, each with a different topic.

· You can participate in six brainstorm sessions, where you’ll have 30 mins to discuss the topic at the table, identify barriers to progress and potential solutions.

· There are a limited number of seats at each table, and you’ll only be able to sit at each table once. Make sure you have a couple of “plan B” options in case you don’t get your first pick.

· After lunch, a panel discussion on the topic: "How can we help central and local government make well-informed decisions?" will be facilitated by Chris Purchas from Tonkin+Taylor. 

Chris will be joined by panellists:

  • Sue Coutts, External Affairs Director from Zero Waste Network Aotearoa,
  • Michelle Kazor, Director – Waste Investments from Ministry for the Environment,
  • Kirsty Quickfall, Resource Recovery Lead from Hamilton City Council,
  • Natalie Webster, Technical Director from Pattle Delamore Partners, and
  • Laurence Dolan, Environmental Manager from EnviroNZ.


Networking drinks will be held from 3.30-5.30pm. 


​Juhi Shareef - keynote speaker 

As co-founder of Project:Moonshot, Juhi Shareef and the Moonshot team are currently mapping regenerative and circular projects around Aotearoa on the Moonshot Map           

                                                                                                                      

Juhi Shareef is chief responsibility officer at Tourism Holdings Limited (thl) where she oversees the global strategies for risk, sustainability, and health, safety and wellbeing.


Juhi initiated and chaired the Battery Industry Group from 2019 to 2022. B.I.G. designed a product stewardship scheme for large batteries that supports the circular economy, and conceptualised a blockchain-based digital battery passport that tracks batteries and components through multiple lives and owners to ensure they are properly managed at end of life. 


Juhi's keynote will cover:

  • What is a circular economy?
  • What it isn’t (closing a recycling loop).
  • The doughnut/te takarangi model: why context is key?
  • What is systems thinking and why we all need to think in systems?
  • What the Moonshot Map and Amiomio research tell us about the current state of the circular economy in Aotearoa (data points, change agents, gaps, opportunities).

We've asked each sector group to give us two topics that they'd like participants to discuss. Have a look at the topics below and decide in advance which six (or more) topics interest you.

Register now

Table to​pics for the WasteMINZ Collaborative Workshop

 Table #Topic
Table 1 

How does WasteMINZ become and encourage members to become better Te Tiriti partners?

Further information: “What is good for Māori is good for everyone”. Many of the essential, frontline workers in the waste sector are Māori and Pasifika. Yet the waste sector generally doesn’t do a very good job of acknowledging Te Tiriti and the importance of Te Ao Māori in providing solutions to the problems we face. How can WasteMINZ and its members support this kaupapa and how can the Ministry for the Environment help with this?

 Table 2 Modelling the behaviours we want from others is a good way of changing behaviour in your peers. What do you do, or what could you do, in your workplace or within your personal life to role model low waste behaviours?
 Table 3 How can we build a circular economy for soil?
Further information: Based on landfill audits and waste composition data for Class 1 landfills, approximately 800,000 tonnes of soil are disposed to Class 1 landfills in New Zealand every year. An unknown quantity of soil is disposed to Class 2-5 landfills each year, as there is currently no publicly available data for these facilities. These soils contain contaminant concentrations ranging from ‘background’ to ‘lightly contaminated’ to ‘highly contaminated’. Developing a circular economy for soils will result in the safe and fit for purpose reuse of soils as a valuable asset.
 Table 4 How do we make sure the waste disposal levy collects the right data, so that we can understand the priorities for waste minimisation?
 Table 5 What waste streams/emerging contaminants have been identified as issues or potential issues at your facility or by your regulator, and how can we manage these risks?
Further information:  Landfills and regulators are struggling with the management of disposal of problem waste streams and emerging contaminants. Thinking around how problem waste streams should be handled in New Zealand, oftentimes major landfills don’t have acceptance criteria for these waste streams (e.g., PFAS, DDT). In the absence of waste acceptance criteria (WAC) two approaches can be taken: 1) the landfill can accept them because there are no WAC and therefore councils cannot impose criteria, and 2) no matter how little of the contaminant the waste stream contains, we cannot accept these contaminants, so don’t test for them, just send the soil.
 Table 6 What are the broad principles that regional councils should consider when planning for waste management and disposal in the future? How could or should data from the waste disposal levy reporting requirements inform councils’ thinking about future planning for waste infrastructure? 
 Table 7  How could we as an industry promote and attract people into the industry (addressing both the resourcing gaps particularly for driver/operators, and enhancing the image of the sector)?
 Table 8  Should industry introduce and implement a compulsory training program across all waste companies and should training comply with the New Zealand Guide for Temporary Traffic Management?
 Table 9  What should we be doing now to transition to a low waste future?

 Further information: We need to be working on solutions now to get to where we want to be in 15-20 years so now is the time to examine the proposed policy levers to identify gaps. This includes moving into the behavioural realm where the design challenge is to make it easier for households and individuals to reduce their food waste. It also includes an approach that ensures responsibility is shared across the whole life cycle of food waste.  

 Table 10  How do we shift from waste minimisation and management to circular economy and waste prevention in the context of organic materials?

  Further information: How do we shift to a conversation about maximising value of product rather than maximising diversion from landfill? How do we frame conversations in the organic material sector with circular economy?

 Table 11 How  can WasteMINZ support the move towards a stewardship economy?

 Further information: Currently six priority products have the co-design of schemes in progress or are about to begin this process. This system relies on the Minister of the day to determine the case for regulated product stewardship schemes. We need to explore other ways to tackle the root causes of waste and ensure all products on the market have stewardship built into them regardless of whether they have been declared a priority product or not. 

 Table 12 How can WasteMINZ ensure it is involved in future co-design processes?

Further information: Currently decisions about priority products are made by the Minister. How can WasteMINZ advocate for future priority product declarations and work with members to gather the evidence to clearly demonstrate the need for coordinated regulated product stewardship intervention? 

 Table 13  How can the sector and WasteMINZ best gather evidence-based information to pre-emptively influence ministerial policy directions?

Further information: How can the sector influence the potential solutions offered up for consultation and build resilience into the system so that in 10 years’ time preventing and minimising waste is a normal day to day activity for everyone in New Zealand Aotearoa?

 Table 14

How do we work with the producers so that they only bring to the market products that have their life cycle fully planned out and paid for?  

Further information: What needs to change in the system to leave us with resources that can be recovered? Should it be a requirement that everything brought to market has to meet a resource recovery standard?
 Table 15 Thinking around infrastructure needs for the sector, what are the most critical needs you see for your organisation and how do you think those needs should be funded?
 Table 16 What can WasteMINZ do to help build capability and capacity for the upcoming needs of our sector/your organisation?
 Table 17  If a Container Return Scheme, as proposed in MfE's transforming recycling consultation, goes ahead, how will it affect the industry?
 Table 18What are the steps we need to take so that we have a low-carbon and low-waste future?

Interested in attending the Colla​borative Workshop, but don't know where to stay? Contact Josh from Novotel Auckland Airport for 20% off the best available rate at the time of booking: 


Josh Watene

Meetings & Events Services Manager

Novotel Auckland Airport

josh.watene@accor.com

+64 9 257 7226


Register now