Marlborough’s recycling habits are coming under council scrutiny as figures show the region is falling behind in waste management.
Latest figures show Marlborough is producing almost double the national average of waste, generating 1330kg of waste per person, per year.
With the national average being 740kg, more needs to be done says Solid Waste Manager Mark Lucas.
“We cannot keep kicking this recyclable can down the road - as a region we can do more. Based on these figures we are not doing as well as we could be.”
A proposed waste bylaw for Marlborough is an important next step in getting the region’s waste sorted.
Marlborough District Council have approved a special consultative process to progress the Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Bylaw 2025.
This will replace the Waste Bylaw 2017 which has been superseded by legislative changes and the new kerbside collection service.
These changes will give council better control over those who exploit the system, Mark explains.
“The cost of their activities is borne by the community, most of whom are doing the right thing.”
The new draft bylaw is geared towards doubling Marlborough’s recycling output both now and in the future.
Mark says council also wants to significantly reduce waste going to landfill.
“Marlborough needs to reduce how much waste we send to landfill because our Bluegums facility has a limited life expectancy.
“Without a bylaw Council has no powers to regulate waste in our region,” he says.
The new bylaw will also identify remote transfer stations as waste facilities and boost council’s ability to deal with non-compliance at transfer stations.
New rules would help combat littering problems, including items dumped by donation boxes for clothing and household goods.
“Education will be our primary focus, not punitive action,” Mark says,
“There are also new requirements for waste management plans from industry which includes the building of multi-unit residential dwellings, and all commercial demolition and construction activities over $2M in value.”
“There is currently no threshold or trigger value for this quantum, and we have set ours based on research from other councils – we would like feedback on this proposal.
“When you consider that 40 to 50 per cent of waste going to landfill is from construction and demolition this is a good way to divert waste to reuse and recycling,” Mark says.
Large scale events are also an area council would like feedback on.
At present all events in Marlborough require a waste minimisation plan but the new bylaw sets this at 500 people and is designed to capture major events, not smaller work or family celebrations.
Licensing requirements for waste operators will also be introduced to better monitor the effectiveness of the new bylaw.
“We welcome the input from the community and industry to ensure we set these trigger values correctly. More information will be made available on Council’s website once consultation begins,” Mark says.
Consultation on the Draft Waste Management and Minimisation Bylaw 2025 starts on 10 March and closes on 17 April. Hearings will be held on 14 May if they are required.
