Christchurch City Council to consider new waste reduction plan

6 August 2004

A Recovered Materials Foundation (RMF) plan which would reduce the quantity of waste going to landfill will be considered by the Christchurch City Council at a committee meeting next week.

The RMF, an independent trust set up to minimise waste and process the recyclable material collected at the kerbside, responded to a Council call for organisations that could deliver a range of waste services and objectives. A key feature of its proposal is that it best meets the Council’s three key community outcomes in the waste area, says Jane Parfitt, the Council’s General Manager City Environment.

These outcomes are:
· Improved efficiencies (collection, recycling, processing, and the management of refuse stations and compost plants), and therefore lowered costs
· Improved waste minimisation, particularly from more waste sorting at the refuse stations through the involvement of commercial partners
· Reducing risks to CCC by working in partnerships with commercial operators

“This proposal takes a new look at the way commercial and residential material which is reusable and recyclable can be taken out of the waste stream and not transported to the Kate Valley landfill,” says Mrs Parfitt. “It would make a major contribution to the Council’s goal of zero waste and further Christchurch’s reputation as a leader in waste minimisation.”

The RMF’s proposal would see it working with commercial waste operators Canterbury Waste Services (CWS) and Onyx.  At the Parkhouse refuse station a commercial waste sorting and consolidation facility would be developed by CWS, for use by CWS and other commercial operators. 

A public resource recovery facility would be operated by the RMF alongside, but separate from, the commercial operation. Facilities would be organised to enable greater waste diversion than currently occurs. The public would enter a recycling area first, and a designated green waste area would also exist.
 
There would be similar arrangements between the RMF and Onyx at the Metro refuse station.  The RMF would solely operate at the Styx refuse station.

· The RMF proposal will be considered by the Council’s Sustainable Transport and Utilities Committee on Wednesday 11 August, at 9.30am. Its decision will go before the full Council at its meeting on 26 August. If adopted, the proposal will be put out for public consultation.

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