New Zealand’s Waste Challenge: Total Waste Volumes Plumet; Households Still Need To Clean Up Act

The total volume of waste generated in New Zealand in 2024 plummeted, but this owes more to current economic conditions than to any significant trend towards waste minimisation on the part of Kiwi households and businesses.

That’s the main finding of the Waste & Recycling Industry Association’s (WRIA) 2024 Waste & Recycling Snapshot, which presents key sector data for the calendar year. The data is derived from the WRIA’s nine members, who together are responsible for collecting around 95% of New Zealand’s household waste and recycling, and handle 80% of municipal landfill waste.

Total waste sent to landfill dropped from 4.7 million tonnes in 2023 to 3.7 million tonnes in 2024, driven mainly by a 23% fall in waste material collected from commercial and industrial sites.

WRIA Executive Director Barney Irvine explains that the waste sector is a powerful indicator of the state of the economy.

“When economic activity is down, we produce less waste – it’s that simple. More than anything, what this reflects is the depressed state of the building and construction sector, which makes up the bulk of the waste that gets sent to landfill.”

While commercial and industrial waste volumes fell, household waste and recycling volumes increased by 53,000 tonnes (around 7%).

Mr Irvine says this illustrates that consumption of food and drink products, which (together with their packaging) constitute the lion’s share of household waste, remains strong even in tight economic times.

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“Households aren’t cutting back in their consumption, but there are signs that people are opting for more affordable alternatives,” he says. “For instance, we’ve seen a shift away from drinks sold in bottles to products sold in less premium packaging material, like cans and plastic. That’s partly why glass recycling volumes are down by 14%, while plastics and tin/aluminium are up by 13% and 46% respectively.”

While waste volumes are currently low, Mr Irvine says the public and policy-makers should be under no illusions about the fact that they will rise again as soon as the economy starts to recover.

“Now’s not the time for anyone to think that it’s a case of job done,” he says. “The Government should take advantage of the current lull in demand to push ahead in key policy areas, and lay the foundation for a much more resilient, dynamic waste and recycling system into the future.”

In particular, WRIA members would like to see:

• An extended producer responsibility scheme for lithium-ion batteries, to help address the extreme risk of fire
• A large-scale, sustained public education campaign on recycling
• A more effective resource and consenting framework for waste and recycling infrastructure, including landfills and recycling and recovery facilities

Finally, the data shows that, despite the drop in landfill volumes, large landfill operators succeeded in capturing close to 100,000 tonnes of methane from waste and converting it into electricity – this was enough to power around 31,000 homes.

Mr Irvine says this speaks to the success the sector has had in reducing greenhouse gas emissions over recent decades.

“Between 1990 and 2023, emissions from solid waste disposal fell by 14.2%, compared to a national increase in gross emissions of 13% over the same period. Solid waste was the only sector to achieve a reduction – it’s the unsung hero of the emissions reduction story.”

About the Waste & Recycling Industry Forum:

The Waste & Recycling Industry Forum represents the main private operators in New Zealand’s waste management sector, including:

• Enviro NZ
• Green Gorilla
• JJ Richards
• Northland Waste
• Oji Fibre Solutions
• Smart Environmental
• Visy
• WasteCo
• Waste Management NZ

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