Eunomia undertook a comprehensive review of New Zealand’s waste and resource recovery infrastructure in 2020-21.  The summary report for the project is now publicly available and can be downloaded here.

The project covered three phases:

1. Stocktake of existing facilities and services.  The study gathered information and data on the number and types of facilities and services as well as the types and quantities of material they handled.  While much of the information provided was commercially sensitive, the summary report provides an aggregated view of 10 key resource streams as well as Class 1 landfills and energy recovery.  Note that the data is a snapshot in time.

2. Identifying and prioritising infrastructure gaps.  This phase of the project was conducted with input from an Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) which comprised 18 subject matter experts representing a cross section of the industry as well as central government. Gaps and options were further tested through the input of a series of technical reference groups for each material stream.

3. Applying a strategic lens.  This phase synthesises many of the ideas that emerged through the work into a strategic framework.  It proposes the concept of a ‘circular resource network’. In this network the resource recovery system is consciously designed to facilitate the circular flow of materials through the economy, by ‘completing the circle’.

For further information contact info@eunomia.co.nz.