Waste Management Institute - Hobbs Speech
Hon Marion Hobbs Speech Notes
The Waste Management Institute Conference, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Christchurch, 9a.m. Thursday 1 November
Introductory remarks
I see you have invited the same keynote
speakers to Christchurch as were invited to WasteMINZ in
Auckland last year. Brian and I should be flattered that we
have been given the opportunity of an encore. I notice that
our order of speaking has been changed. Is this politeness
due to the fact that Brian is such a hard act to
follow?
A year later and what’s changed? Well I
have. I can now recognise a genetically engineered organism
at a 100 metres. I can probably see a tiger mosquito or a
dead black widow spider at the same distance. They all look
the same. They look like trouble. I’ve also learnt a lot
more about waste, its problems and the enormous energy some
people are giving to finding solutions.
I want
to talk about waste and I’d like to focus on the positive.
But, first, I want to provide some broader background to the
changing direction in government policy as we come to grips
with the idea of sustainable development and as we plan for
the 10th Anniversary of Rio de Janeiro Conference on
Environment and Development. This is the broader context
for our work on waste.
Sustainable Development, Strategies of Government and Rio plus 10
The
preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
next year is focusing minds in Wellington. This conference
will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in September
2002.
For this summit, we need to prepare a
country profile that reports on New Zealand’s actions to
implement Agenda 21, the broad based commitment that leaders
made at the Rio Conference.
As part of the
preparation for this conference, we are working through the
implications of our commitment to sustainable development
through the development of a Sustainable Development
Strategy that will, amongst other things, guide the
Government’s economic, social and environmental
policies.
The recently completed National Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Strategy, the Government’s
climate change policy and the proposed New Zealand Waste
Minimisation and Management will be important elements
underlining the Government’s commitment to sustainable
development.
Sometimes I think the development
of strategies is an opportunity to avoid real decisions but
another thing that I have learnt is the importance of being
clear about what we want to do, why we need to do what we
want to do, what are costs and options of what we need to do
and what needs take priority. This is particularly
important for a new government that wants to change some
entrenched policies.
An initiative I took, in
preparation for the World Summit was the Rio plus 10
Community Participation Project. I was pleased by the huge
public response to this exercise. The reaction underlines
the importance of public information and education about
waste.
The most common comment was that New Zealand’s clean, green image is not matched by the reality. While people recognised that New Zealand is still relatively clean compared with other countries, this was considered as more good luck than good management.
Reducing waste and managing it better can contribute significantly to making our clean green image a reality and to achieving New Zealand’s goals for development that is environmentally sustainable.
The New Zealand Waste Minimisation and Management Strategy
So, what’s happening about
the waste strategy?
The Working Group on Waste
Minimisation and Management completed its work in August
this year after a process of consultation and public
discussions on the discussion paper that was published last
December. Over 250 submissions were received, almost all
supporting the proposals in the report.
Progress
on the development of the Strategy itself has reached the
point where a draft has been made available for peer review
by government departments and an expert group of council
officers formed to advise the National Council of Local
Government New Zealand whether the Strategy should be
adopted;
The Ministry for the Environment is
currently digesting the comments that have been made and a
further draft is being prepared. This will be subject to
one further round of consideration by departments and the
expert group.
I expect the proposed Strategy to
be considered by the National Council of Local Government
New Zealand at its mid-December meeting. I am hopeful the
National Council will approve the Strategy, in principle and
will recommend to the constituent councils of Local
Government New Zealand that they adopt the Strategy as a
basis for their own waste minimisation and management plans
and policies.
I further expect to take the
proposed Strategy to Cabinet in the New Year for formal
approval and adoption as government policy.
What’s in this Strategy and is it going to make a
difference? These are some of the things I expect to be in
the Strategy:
o Confirmation that central and local
government will make a long- term commitment to
significantly reducing waste and the harm it can cause to
people and the environment.
o A challenging vision that
should help focus our minds on the need to think and act
differently about waste----to close the loop between the use
of resources and the environment.
o An approach based on
goals and principles of sustainable development.
o A
comprehensive approach that includes solid, liquid and
gaseous waste
o A continued focus on the most harmful
wastes but more consideration to reducing high volume
wastes.
o Programmes, already underway, that will see
that all waste treatment and disposal facilities achieve
high environmental performance standards by the end of this
decade –and adopt full cost pricing policies.
o
Programmes that will ensure the development of sound
information systems and better coordination of public
information and education- you can’t manage anything if you
can’t measure it.
o A shift in emphasis from managing
disposal to waste prevention and reduction
o The
retention of the waste management provisions of the Local
Government Act and a commitment to review these-and other
legislation relating to waste- to ensure consistency with
the Strategy
o Targets that local government and others
can aim for.
While the Strategy will set out
a new direction and approach, it will not provide a detailed
blue print for everything that has to be done for evermore.
Some big issues have been raised in this process that are
going to require time to work through carefully and to
consult further. Decisions on these issues, such as the
appropriate legislative basis for waste management, lie in
the future.
It will also take time for local
authorities to respond to the objectives of the Strategy.
Some like Christchurch are probably ahead of the game but
others will need to work through how the implementation of
the Strategy will be translated into practice.
Will implementing the Strategy make a difference? Yes!
Will the difference be immediate? No! The Strategy builds
on good things that are already happening and implementing
these will help. The real impact of the Strategy is likely
to be in the future as its implementation changes the way we
think and act towards waste. We know from the experience of
other countries that this is a long journey.
Those that are rising to the Challenge
The implementation of
a New Zealand Waste Minimisation and Management Strategy,
and its call for a change in direction, will present a
challenge to many and require initiative and
leadership.
I expect the Government to do its
part and I am hopeful that the Minister of Finance will be
persuaded by my arguments about the importance of this
policy area.
Leadership does not always have to
come from the top however and certainly not always from
central Government.
I have been enormously
impressed by some of the things that I have seen happening
to minimise and manage waste.
I had the good
fortune to visit Christchurch City recently and spend some
time seeing the results of the partnership between the City
and the Recovered Materials Foundation. Strong local
political leadership coupled with a committed community can
make a real difference. Christchurch provides a model that
others can learn from. But its message needs to be promoted
by central government.
Christchurch City is
also one of the organisations that made a commitment last
year at the Redesigning Resources Conference to
sustainability. No central government agency has accepted
this challenge- something I would like to change.
There is leadership coming too from much
smaller communities like Kaitaia, Opotiki, Kaikoura,
Amberley, and Ashburton. These all provide different models
and different lessons in waste minimisation.
We
are going to need champions in industry and we have a few
already like Stephen Tindall and Richard Morley-Hall from
the Warehouse (who must have a lot of waste to manage) and
Rob Fenwick of the Living Earth Company. The NZ Business
Council for Sustainable Development has taken up the
Challenge and the BusinessCare organisation is doing an
excellent job.
We are also going to need
leadership from Maori, who have particular cultural issues
with the management of wastewater and sewage sludge, from
the scientists and technologists, from the communicators and
educationalists and from committed individuals, such as
Warren Snow of the Zero Waste Trust.
There is
always a risk in mentioning the names of specific
individuals and councils. I do not want to imply, by
omission, that leadership is not coming from other quarters.
It is and it’s gratifying to see.
I use these as
examples of what I want to see more of.
I’d like
to thank the many in the audience that have given their time
to the exercises being managed by the Ministry for the
Environment – This input is critical to the quality of the
materials being produced by the Ministry.
One
last mention in this roll call. WasteMINZ. You are a young
and committed association that provides a great network for
those working with waste.
I was really pleased
to learn about the initiative you have taken to reposition
waste and to promote a new age in waste management. This
should strongly complement the Waste Minimisation and
Development Strategy. It’s a great example of the sort of
partnership that can be forged.
I look forward
to hearing Brian Richards and Jim Bradley talk about this
changed approach and will provide a few additional comments
after their presentations.
Additional Comments on the “Lifeafterwaste” Programme (to be made in response to the presentation of the proposed programme by Brian Richards and Jim Bradley)
First, congratulations WasteMINZ on
taking this initiative and Brian and Jim in taking the
initiative to this point.
As I said earlier, the
proposed “Lifeafterwaste” strongly complements the Waste
Minimisation and Management Strategy being developed by
central and local government.
The programme
provides a major opportunity to help turn rhetoric into
reality and recognises the critical importance of public
information and education.
I want the Government
to be involved in the further development of this proposal
and we will participate in the implementation
team.
A coordinated, consistent, nationwide
education programme should be a core element of Strategy
implementation.
I need to sound one note of
caution however. While changing hearts and minds and the
way we act towards waste will be important, the idea of a
government led and funded media campaign will have to
compete with other priorities. I am prepared to consider
this proposal but suggest that any campaign will need
careful consideration of its costs and benefits and support
from a groundswell of public opinion and local government
lobbying.