EMBARGOED UNTIL 3.30pm
THURSDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2007

Rt Hon Helen Clark
Prime Minister

PM: Speech to open Awapuni Recycling Centre

Awapuni Landfill, Tip Road
PALMERSTON NORTH

3.30 pm
Thursday 22 February 2007

Thank you for inviting me to officially open Palmerston North City Council’s Awapuni Recycling Centre.

Effective waste strategies are central to making our communities and our country sustainable.

And sustainability is central to the vision our government has for New Zealand in the 21st century.

So, as well as putting in place new strategies and policies in areas like energy, transport, water, waste, and land management, we are also leading from the front with plans to achieve carbon neutrality in the public service and to design sustainable procurement policies.

We are thinking globally and acting locally – and so, I believe, is Palmerston North City.

The city has set a target of recovering fifty per cent of its total waste stream within the next five years – and the way in which it intends to achieve that is innovative.

I applaud the decision to power this centre by recovering methane gas from the landfill – an initiative made possible by the sale of carbon credits on the international market.

I congratulate the City on keeping ownership of the recyclables it collects, so that it can supply the recovered materials to businesses for remanufacture in New Zealand.

I understand that
• recovered plastic is onsold to recyclers in the region
• paper and cardboard are onsold to Carter Holt Harvey which makes new paperboard at Kinleith and Penrose
• scrap steel and aluminium cans are supplied to a local scrap metal dealer
• excess glass is crushed and used in roading – and has been used in an aggregate mix in the foundations of this centre.
Indeed the use of glass as an aggregate replacement was first trialled at this site – and made possible by this local authority-industry partnership.

In all these ways, Palmerston North City is helping make our economy and our environment more sustainable. Reprocessing our waste is a very efficient use of resources – and not dumping waste into landfills is good for our environment.

Every year in New Zealand we throw away 3.2 million tonnes of rubbish – more than half of which could be recycled or composted.

We have made significant progress in controlling waste since the New Zealand Waste Strategy was introduced in 2002, but more needs to be done.

Our government sees the need for legislation to support product stewardship schemes. Additional funding is also needed to increase the scope and effectiveness of local and national waste minimisation initiatives.

The Waste Minimisation (Solids) Bill is currently before a parliamentary committee. The government is working with its Green Party sponsors to ensure that the bill which comes back to Parliament is effective in dealing with these issues.

We are also proposing to develop a public space recycling programme in partnership with local government. New Zealand needs better networks of recycling bins in public spaces so that people can recycle when they are away from home.

I believe New Zealanders are already well disposed towards doing their bit for the environment through recycling.

When the Palmerston North City Council consulted on its Waste Minimisation Plan two years ago, there was a strong community desire to increase recycling.

This new centre, processing green waste and food waste for composting, and collecting dry recyclables and paper and cardboard for remanufacture and use, is a major step towards greater sustainability for the City.

I know that what we see at the centre today is a work in progress. You have plans for a second co-generation engine, a biogas research project involving Massey University and Mighty River Power, and more development of the resource recovery and recreation facilities.

I congratulate the City on the investment it is making here, and have pleasure in declaring the Awapuni Recycling Centre officially open.

Ends

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