Conference presentations
Thank you for attending the 2026 WasteMINZ + AGLA Conference!
You can click on the links below to download the presentation slides from the event. They are listed by date, in order of appearance. Please refer to the conference programme for more information about the schedule.
Please note, some presenters did not want their slides to be shared on the website.
We also ask you not to share this with anyone who did not attend the conference, as this is unfair to those that paid for the conference. We will be sharing the presentations with wider membership in six months.
If you have any questions, please contact Jo Cammell (jo@wasteminz.org.nz).
Day 1 - Tuesday, 19 May
Morning sessions
Opening plenary session
- Helmut Modlik, Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira
He waka e noa: We are all in this together! (LINK TO BE UPDATED!) - Dr Mai Chen
No slides were used by the speaker
Burning issues
- Lisa Eve, Whakatane District Council (formerly Eunomia) & Katy Chamley, Eunomia
Battery sector environmental scan - Rosie Dawson, Auckland Council
Working towards a safer lithiumion battery future - Spyro Kalos, EcoCycle Group
Lessons from Australia: Building smarter EPR frameworks for New Zealand - Patrick Moynahan, Echo
Scaling e-waste recovery through community partnerships
Risk assessment unlocked: Tools, truths & turning points
- Craig Cowper, Alliance
Contamination isn’t the problem - fear is the problem - Jamie Rhodes & Oliver McMillan, ENGEO
When Tier 1 isn’t enough: Understanding the limits of conservative screening criteria - Dave Dangerfield, EHS Support New Zealand
Naturally occurring asbestos in New Zealand - a fictional risk or significant hazard - Kylie Dodd, GHD
Environmental Risk Assessment: Moving beyond Tier 1 criteria - Michelle Begbie, Joshua Evans & Jonathan Caldwell, Waikato Regional Council
Small town, big question: What’s in the soil we’re throwing away?
United minds, shared goals
- Simonne Eldridge, Tonkin + Taylor
Collaboration across the waste ecosystem – the key to achieving true waste minimisation outcomes - Nicola Strawbridge & Monisha Wylie-Kapoor, Auckland Council
Collaboration that counts – empowering communities to drive zero waste change across Tāmaki Makaurau - Libby Frude, Hutt City Council & Chris Ellis, Earthlink Incorporated
Collaboration and constraints: Partnering to increase diversion at Silverstream landfill
Flipping the script: Co-designing soil reuse
- Sarah Newall, HAIL Environmental, Stephen Thomson, WSP & Miles Calder, Tonkin + Taylor
Common ground: Collaboration towards maximising soil re-use on a large roading project - Tom Wilson. Protranz Earthmoving
From liability to asset: The business of surplus soil
Wasted food
- Hannah Sherratt, Health New Zealand & Sarahann du Plooy, Tauranga City Council
Driving food waste reduction through community partnerships in Tauranga - Rebecca Hayden, Auckland Council & Cole Armstrong, Counter Factual
Small tests, big shifts: Scaling behaviour change through council-community collaboration - Sophie Wolland, Love Food Hate Waste NZ & Nicola Voice, Woolworths NZ
The partnership playbook for cutting household food waste - Diane Stanbra, Rescued
Prioritising prevention: Getting to the top of the food waste hierarchy
Afternoon sessions
Unpacking the unseen: Modern contaminates and their real-world impacts
- Andrew Pearson, Tonkin + Taylor
Antimony: Silent threat… or just bad press? - Ella Harford, Fulton Hogan
Archboyd Pump Station: Managing acid sulphate soil and groundwater risks - Sarah Guy & Miles Calder, Tonkin + Taylor
Sawdust and sandcastles: A tale of unexpected contamination - Julia Jaeger, Eurofins
Invisible fallout: Global patterns and sources of atmospheric microplastics - Kapish Gobindlal, EDL
Advancing scale-up of mechanochemical destruction for PFAS-impacted soils: Insights from a US Department of Defense project
Closing the loop
- Sei Brown, Localised & Eric Park, Auckland Council
Moving up the hierarchy together: Auckland Council and Localised scaling Tāmaki Makaurau’s Resource Recovery Network - Michael Carey, Sims Metal
Sustainable steelmaking
Modelling the invisible: From plumes to plans
- Katy Grant, Pattle Delamore Partners
Jollies Pass Road – using Leapfrog to visualise temporal changes to contaminant plume behaviour - Jamie Rhodes, ENGEO
Mitigating legacy risks in future cities: A geospatial approach to environmental and contaminated land coordination - Tom Wilson, Protranz Earthmoving
Digital dirt: A guide to an AIassisted, 3D twin workflow - Zoe Vercoe, Pattle Delamore Partners & Nikhil Susarla, Watercare
Mapping PFAS risk: Using GIS and cross-collaboration to protect Onehunga’s drinking water supply
Unearthing the issues: From definition to remediation
- Dave Bull, HAIL Environmental
What even is a landfill? - Sally Lochhead, Tonkin + Taylor
Quantifying the unknown – hydrogeological and contaminant transport characterisation of an urban landfill extension, Wellington, New Zealand - Sean Finnigan, Fraser Thomas & Kim Wepasnick, Toitu Te Whenua | Land Information New Zealand
Investigation and options assessment for management and remediation of the Tokanui Hospital Closed Landfill - Jonathan Shamrock, Tonkin + Taylor
Calculating leakage rates from landfill liner systems
Day 2 - Wednesday, 20 May
Morning sessions
Plenary Room
-
Glenn Wigley, Shaun Lewis & Lorena Stephen, Ministry for the Environment
Waste & Resource Efficiency work programme update
Balancing limits: Environmental science, policy decisions & community outcomes
-
Dr Nick Kim, Massey University
Environmental limits in transition: Science, policy, and community aspirations in New Zealand’s new resource management framework
Product stewardship
- Deanne Holdsworth, Pact Group
NZ’s product stewardship: The good, the bad, and the ugly - Chris Gingell, TOMRA Collection
The international trend towards Container Return Schemes: Is New Zealand being left behind? - Mark Hilton, Eunomia & Alex Kirkham, Auckland Council
The true cost of textiles: The case for regulated textile product stewardship in New Zealand - Roderick Boys, Ministry for the Environment & Tony Wilson, Agrecovery
Rural Recycling Scheme update
Moving on up the waste hierarchy
- Joanna Langford, Wellington City Council & Hannah Blumhardt, Reuse Aotearoa
Scaling reuse, repair and share to reduce waste: Lessons from Wellington - Carla van Walen, Localised & Mohamed Elkharboutly, Massey University
From red stickers to reuse: Rethinking construction and demolition waste - Monica Bosco, Renewal SA
We’ve got dirt – and we know how to use it. Practical lessons in soil management and reuse from a government run recycling facility
The technical edge: Pushing the boundaries of contaminated land
- Jonathan Caldwell, Waikato Regional Council & Jade McConchie, GHD
A national approach for managing acid sulfate soils in New Zealand? - Andrew Pearson, Tonkin + Taylor
Are Agrivoltaics a contaminating activity? - Natalie Flatman, ENGEO
Managing legacy contamination at Te Papa: Progress made, challenges remain - Komalpreet Kaur, Talis Consultants
Investigating the role of microplastics as potential PFAS vectors in soil and groundwater in a landfill site - Julie Palich, Geocontam Risk Management
The humble PSI reimagined
Beyond closure: Closing the loop on landfills
- Rachel Rait, Department of Conservation
From removal to resilience: Adaptive approaches to historic landfills on public conservation land - Courtney Armstrong, Auckland Council
Adapting a closed landfill portfolio for a changing climate: From portfolio-wide risk to site-specific action - Terry Widdowson & Charlotte Rayner, AECOM New Zealand
Better data, better decisions: Reforming closed landfill monitoring - Marcus Herrmann, Riley Consultants
Landfill gas risks for residential developments: Approaches to assessment and regulation in New Zealand - Tyler Neve & Genevieve Smith, Beca
Te Raekaihau Point: Remediating a coastal legacy site through collaboration
Organics & biosolids
- Campbell Jensen, Watercare
Roadmap to big decision – Watercare’s Mangere Biosolids Servicing Project - Sophie Coley, Waipa District Council
Assessing the feasibility of community composting hubs for commercial organic waste in Waipā District - David Pickett, Tonkin + Taylor & Jörn Scherzer, Hutt City Council
Biosolids in land rehabilitation: Navigating opportunities and regulatory responsibility - Liam Prince, Kaicycle
Aotearoa Composters Network: Toward regenerative organics cycling
Afternoon sessions
From chaos to cleanup: Emergency waste management
- Bruce Croucher, Ministry for the Environment
Emergency waste management at MFE - Richard Mowll, Richard Mowll Consulting
Creating debris disposal plans for the Wellington region
Where risk really matters: Clearer conversations, cleaner outcomes
- Craig Cowper, Alliance
Stalemate is a choice: Reframing risk to get to yes - James Corbett, Auckland Council & Michael Mechaelis, Tonkin + Taylor
When the tide goes out (on ACMs) what risks are uncovered? - Marcus Herrmann, Riley Consultants
Site contamination public health impacts: Effective risk communication and response approaches - Simon Gray, Bellrock Advisory
Managing risk where it really matters, insurance and contracting insights for waste and contaminated land projects - Michael King, SLR Consulting
Collaboration in action: Engineering a skate park on contaminated ground
From guidance to groundwork: Align the rules, raise the bar
- Andrew Rumsby, EHS Support New Zealand
Advancing the reliability of ANZG Water Quality Guideline values through updated methodology and modernised tools - Sarah Shepherd & Genevieve Smith, Beca
Road testing the Coal Tar Guidelines - Shona Hobbs, AECOM New Zealand
When is a hydrocarbon not a contaminant? A gap in NZ background values - Annalise Bennett & Laurence Dolan, Enviro NZ
Same dirt, different rules: Untangling inconsistencies in waste acceptance and contaminated land practice
Local leaders, lasting impact: case studies in circular innovation
- Kimberley Hope, Tonkin +Taylor & Valerie Bianchi, Waikato Regional Council
Creating systems change through cross-regional collaboration - Lincoln Coe, Dunedin City Council & Stephen Douglass, GHD
Dunedin City Council – transforming a circular waste vision into reality - Rahul Krishnan, Envirocon & Sarahann du Plooy, Tauranga City Council
Turning waste into infrastructure: Tauranga’s circular concrete transition
Driving consumer education and behaviour change
- Kate Fenwick, Waste-Ed With Kate
Proof of recycling: How transparency turns trolls into advocates - Baruk Jacob, Counter Factual & Amber Tharakan, Auckland Council
Why do apartments struggle with waste? Collaborating to shift waste behaviour in apartment living - Ricki Hersburgh, Envirocom Australia
No time to waste – turning education programs around with innovative strategies that deliver positive cost-effective outcomes
Sustainable remediation In practice: hands-on Workshop using The SURE tool
- Facilitators: Louise Wilson (Collaborations) & Stephen Maxwell (Ramboll)
Sustainable remediation in practice: hands-on workshop using the SURE tool
Competency and quality: Raising the standard in contaminated land practice
- Stanley Howell, Jacobs, Craig Cowper, Alliance, Simon Hunt, EHS Support New Zealand & Michelle Begbie, Waikato Regional Council
Who gets to call themselves competent? Lessons from the UK, US and AU for contaminated land practice in NZ - Simon Hunt, EHS Support New Zealand
QA/QC Practice note launch
Technology in waste
- Sunshine Yates, Sunshine Yates Consulting & Terry Coe
Seeing waste differently – improving waste composition monitoring through scalable visual analysis - Lauren Marais, Re.Group
Collaboration managing contamination
Planning & policy
- Stefan Borowy, Morrison Low Advisory
No cap (I’m telling the truth) - Natalie Tararchuk, Toitū Envirocare
From standards to strategy: Leveraging ISO circular economy frameworks for sustainable growth
Collaborative sessions (LINKS TO COME)
- Strengthening waste licensing through cross sector collaboration
- Beyond recovery: Reflections on scaling the repair economy in Aotearoa
- Technical Guidelines for Disposal to Land
- How could government policy support the move from waste management to resource recovery?
Day 3 - Thursday, 21 May
Waste world tour: Snapshots
- Shannon Ball, Christchurch International Airport & Jacob Stapleton, EnviroNZ
Not just rubbish: What three years of waste sortation really looks like - Valentino Luna Hernandez, Health New Zealand
Closing the loop on metered dose inhalers: Lessons from a community pharmacy recycling trial - Eric Park, Auckland Council & Sarah Nicholls, Zero Waste Tāmaki Makaurau Trust
From contracts to collective impact: Establishing the Zero Waste Tāmaki Makaurau Trust - Niamh McShane, SLR Consulting & Maggie Leath, Stantec
Flying blind on fly tipping: Revealing Aotearoa’s unmeasured dumping risk – a Waimakariri River case study - Anita Lewis, Waikato Regional Council
Microplastics in Aotearoa’s marine environment: Emerging risks, knowledge gaps, and strategic interventions - Geoff Gibson, Hastings District & Napier City Councils
It’s not my problem - where construction waste responsibility falls through the cracks
Future focused
- Kavithrra Gunalan & Dr Prashant Praveen, Enviro NZ
Process engineered fuel – a recycling opportunity for unrecyclable plastics - Lindsay Strachan, Envitech Projects NZ
Resource reuse monofill storage – void or voidable?
Plan out the waste, nail the build
- Andred Saker Hutt City Council
C & D waste – trialling a pathway when you don’t have infrastructure - Anne Pezaro, Winstone Wallboards & Geoff Gibson, Hastings District
& Napier City Councils
Closing the loop on GIB® plasterboard: A council and industry collaboration - Kristy Jones, Cook Brothers Construction
Building smarter, wasting less – insights from a construction waste case study - Emily Newmarch, Warren and Mahoney & Ben Cannon, LT McGuinness
Design, delivery and waste: What a hybrid mass timber product taught us
Below the surface: Rapid insights on contaminated land
- Emma Trembath, SLR Consulting
Beyond tradition: Engineering solutions for necro‑leachate risks in Aotearoa cemeteries - Genevieve Palmer, Tonkin + Taylor
Common ground: Preventing recontamination through collaboration - Gina Harris, ERIAS
Samples to strategy: Navigating research and an early career in a post-COVID world - Anton Bernasconi, Tonkin + Taylor
Tackling the too hard basket - Brodie Rowse, Beca
Contaminated land – a regional New Zealand perspective
Grounded in reuse: From minefields To mindsets
- Erika McDonald, ENGEO
Managing excess soil in 2026: Progress made, problems persist - Suzanne Lowe & Maia Bellingham, AECOM New Zealand
Sustainable soil reuse on Te Wai Takamori o Te Awa Kairangi - Jess Campbell & Isobel Stout, Pattle Delamore Partners
Development of site specific trigger values for the treatment and re-use of PFAS contaminated soils - Jack Hammond, ENGEO
Don’t dig yourself a hole: Why soil management frameworks matter - Jo Cavanagh, New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science
Realising the value of urban soils
From theory to impact
- Kimberley Hope, Tonkin + Taylor
Theory vs reality – did what we think would happen, actually happen? - Helena Ruffell, University of Canterbury
The waste in our waste: Microplastics contaminate organic wastes destined for land application - Kapish Gobindlal, Environmental Decontamination (NZ)
Mechanochemistry and waste management
Digging deeper: Uncovering stories in contaminated land management
- Adrian Roberts, GHD
Leachate management during catastrophic weather conditions: What can we do when the abnormal becomes business as usual? - Greg Slaughter, WM New Zealand & Helen Ramsey, Morrison Low
Project Reclaim – excellence in collaboration to deliver positive environmental outcomes - Ben Waterhouse, Beca
The Ōtākaro Avon River Corridor Regeneration Project - Jonathan Caldwell, Waikato Regional Council
When the river runs orange
Closing Plenary
- Geoff Cooper, New Zealand Infrastructure Commission
National Infrastructure Plan
Creating a future where people, communities and nature in Aotearoa New Zealand thrive together
