West Coast councils seek sustainable solutions for construction and demolition waste

The Team Reporter from The Press

The West Coast's four councils have secured $900,000 of funding to defer construction and demolition waste from landfill.

The Buller District Council, Grey District Council, Westland District Council (WDC), and the West Coast
Regional Council (WCRC) secured the funding from the Waste
Minimisation Fund (WMF).

WCRC consents and compliance manager Colin Helem said the focus was primarily on the recovery, reuse, and reprocessing of construction materials such as timber and steel to cut down the significant volumes of building waste entering landfills.

"It is not about building a landfill for construction and demolition waste.”

WDC operations manager Erle Bencich said consultant company Tonkin + Taylor would complete a feasibility study to test the project’s market viability. The results were expected at the end of the year.

“We target January 2023 to review the outcome of the feasibility study and decide how to proceed," Buller District Council solid waste management coordinator Juliana Ruiz said.

The WMF supports projects in New Zealand that increase the reuse, recovery, and recycling of materials. The WMF was set up by central government and is financed out of waste disposal levies.