​LGNZ has welcomed the NZ Government’s announcement of NZ$124 million for onshore recycling and the expansion of the waste levy, but is calling on the government to match the money with a strategic waste plan to ensure New Zealanders get the best “bang for buck”.

Announced in Auckland by Eugenie Sage, Associate Minister for the Environment, the initial NZ$124 million investment represents as much as the entire Waste Minimisation Fund has allocated over the past decade.

In that time, the amount of waste reaching council landfills has increased by 48 per cent, signalling that the investment and incentives for waste reduction and recycling need major attention.

“As a sector, local government commends Minister Sage for the work she has been leading in this space,” says LGNZ President Dave Cull.

“Our communities have consistently been calling for urgent action on waste and recycling, and this funding now puts real heft behind our nation’s efforts to clean up our own mess.

“But if we want the biggest bang for buck, we need to get strategic in how we use this money.  Simply funding recycling projects in a piecemeal fashion is not going to give us the scale we need to economically process waste and recyclables onshore.”

Cull says LGNZ members have called on the organisation to advocate for the implementation of a Local Government Waste Management Manifesto that looks at every aspect of waste and recycling in New Zealand.

“There’s a huge amount of waste and recycling knowledge within the sector, and this is a pretty significant chunk of money, which if used right, could be a game changer for many areas dealing with growing stockpiles of waste and recycling,” he says.