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Waste data in New Zealand

The Ministry for the Environment is working with local government and industry to gain a better understanding of waste minimisation and management in New Zealand. Key aspects of this work are:

Develop tools for collecting waste data
Collect data on specific issues such as the 2002 Landfill Review and Audit
Establish a baseline for waste composition in New Zealand through the SWAP Baseline Programme.
Measure and collect packaging information as part of the New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004
Make the reporting of waste data a simple process for local authorities

Progress to date

There have been a number of initiatives aimed at improving the collection and aggregating of waste data over the last 10 years. These include:

Environment New Zealand 2007
Waste Indicators Data (PDF 930KB)
Waste catchment trial report
The 2006/07 National Landfill Census
Establishment of a core set of environmental indicators
SWAP Baseline results (Excel 244 KB)
The 2002 Landfill Review and Audit (2003)
The Solid Waste Analysis Protocol (2002)
Waste Pilot preliminary results (Excel 163 KB)
The 1998/99 National Landfill Census Report
The National Waste Data Report (1997)
The State of New Zealand’s Environment 1997
The 1995 National Landfill Census
The Waste Analysis Protocol (1992)

While these reports and the underlying policies have resulted in improvements in data collection and/or provided a snapshot of waste disposal or composition in time, they have not succeeded in producing an integrated and ongoing system for generating and collating waste data.

Why is waste information important?

When collecting data of any type it is important to keep in mind the intended use of the information being collected. Some of the uses for waste data are to:

identify options for diversion from landfill
plan for waste management
develop appropriate and practical policy at a local and national level
evaluate the potential risks of waste disposal
measure progress that has been made in waste minimisation
track progress on the New Zealand Packaging Accord 2004.